A Downed Dragon is a Dead Dragon
by almne
Summary: Post movie, NOT A DEATHFIC. Hiccup and Toothless are invincible in the air. But if they lost their prosthetics, how strong would they be?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Hiccup the Dragon Master sat on a hilltop overlooking the village on the island of Berk, as the day turned to night. Two years on, and he worked on yet another modification to Toothless' harness as the light dwindled. A fog hovered off the coast. Toothless himself lay nearby watching fairly patiently for the active dragon. He knew that whenever Hiccup decided to change anything, he would follow it with a thorough testing period, which generally involved a great deal of flying. Which considering as much as they were in the air already, he never minded waiting.

Hiccup still winced a bit at the "Dragon Master" bit. He could almost accept "Dragon Tamer", or preferred "Dragon Trainer", though to his eyes he was as much a "Viking Trainer" as Dragon. However given that modesty among his people involved bellowing their accomplishments at the top of their lungs to every and any person in the area, neither Tamer nor Trainer was considered important sounding enough by the villagers of Berk for their Hero.

The modification he was working on in the dying light wasn't mechanical for once. He was pretty satisfied with that part once he'd figured out a bit of refined whale blubber would keep the moving bits from sticking at unfortunate moments (the bruises from that incident were finally fading). During some of their more acrobatic flights he had noticed that scales at certain points were rubbed off or even crushed by the harness. The first trial had involved wool stuffing inside of leather, which worked for a time, but eventually bunched and shifted to the point that Toothless refused to allow him to put the harness on. Emphatically in fact, to go by the teeth snapping shut a foot above his head.

Next he had tried a wool felt, which again had worked at first. The main problem being the fact that dragon scales had ended up shredding it so badly that it had been half gone by the end of the first test flight. Now he was trying the felt covered by a thick but soft suede leather. At this particular moment he was finishing wrapping up the metal circles which Toothless fit his forelegs through.

Not all of his trials and modifications had worked that well. The time he had wanted to see if anyone else could work with Toothless to fly had been a complete failure. He had gotten Astrid to agree to try and managed to get her in the harness only to have Toothless curl up and stick his head under his wing and feign sleep. Several hundred pounds of dragon is hard to move if said dragon doesn't want to. Begging and pleading hadn't shifted him. When Hiccup finally lost his temper and resorted to threats, he'd ended up receiving a well aimed thwack upside his head from the tail of the "sleeping" dragon.

The one other miserable failure had been the attempt at saddlebags. The first try had placed two bags on either side right behind Hiccup's legs. Toothless spend the short test flight snapping his head from side to side trying to dislodge them. Assuming that they had shifted too much, Hiccup tried a pack down along the dragon's chest and stomach. Toothless had taken off fine, even flew perfectly. It wasn't until they were far from land that he performed a complicated contortion that had his hind legs shredding the bags off so their contents spilled into the ocean. The fact that Toothless had waited until they were in a position where the recovery of the items was slim to nil, coupled with the dragon's smug expression had gotten the point across.

Passengers only. No baggage.

The past few years had otherwise been almost idyllic. There had been some skirmishes between boats of his tribe and other Vikings here and there. Apparently they had left Berk more or less alone because it was so close to the Dragon Nest. The weather wasn't particularly good and together with even more constant dragon attacks that any three other tribe's islands combined had made other tribes view Berk as not worth the effort. With the dragon attacks gone the weather alone wasn't enough to keep back attackers looking to improve their own standing.

Hiccup argued with his father Stoick that the main reason they were attacked was the other tribes were afraid of them because of their "control" over the dragons. He felt that if he could explain and/or train the other tribes the aggression would end. His father argued that the strength of the dragons was the only thing that kept more tribes from challenging them. The fights were almost as loud as the arguments before. At least in the two years that had passed Hiccup had grown a few feet. Now instead of yelling at his father's stomach, he was yelling at his nose. Otherwise it was the same song and dance. Hiccup arguing for change and his father arguing he was too inexperienced to understand his ways wouldn't work. Which was at least a little change from before when Stoick wouldn't listen at all. At least when it came to the dragons themselves Hiccup was the first person his father turned to.

Hiccup finished the final finicky bit of tying off the suede straps and held up the finished piece.

"Hey bud, what do you think?" he asked Toothless.

The dragon lifted his head, cocking it as if to inspect the changes. His ear flaps lifted as he realized Hiccup was finished and it was time to fly. Easily getting to his feet Toothless butted the still sitting Hiccup in the chest to show his impatience to be air-born.

Hiccup laughed at the now restlessly shifting dragon, and carefully levered himself up. While he'd grown accustomed to the artificial leg, it was still a trial to get to his feet after sitting on the ground for a bit.

He had just laid out the harness so Toothless could step into it, when he heard a loud boom, followed by the sight of flames rising from the village as the last of the daylight faded.

A/N: This is the first bit of creative writing I've done since elementary school, over 15 years ago. Feel free to point out any glaring spelling/grammar errors so I can fix them.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

The flames were quickly followed by screams, both of anger and pain, floating up to the pair on the hilltop. Hiccup was stunned. This wasn't a minor hiccup (so to say) from one of the dragons. There were ships he didn't recognize entering the harbor with the evening mist. Quickly shaking off his shock he turned to finish harnessing Toothless. On the ground neither was at their best, Hiccup far less impressive than Toothless. Toothless certainly wasn't named Helpless. However, in the air together they were deadly.

Toothless almost danced in impatience, eager to get into the air to defend his home. Unfortunately that made it even harder to fasten buckles. Hiccup struggled to finish and was distracted and Toothless was distracted by the action in the village that neither one noticed the men approaching them until Hiccup was grabbed by two of them from behind.

A blade was quickly shoved beneath Hiccup's jaw as his arm was twisted up behind his back. Toothless reared, snarling, and turned to go after those who grabbed his rider, only to have nets thrown over his wings fouling them. Snapping at the ones who had thrown them ended up with iron spears jabbed at his face and sides, forcing him to back up. Ropes were thrown between men, further tangling the night fury.

Hiccup began to thrash about, desperate to reach his friend, only to feel the blade bite painfully into his throat, blood flowing freely. The scent of it must have reached Toothless as he suddenly ignored the men around him who were trying to tie him as well as threaten him to look at Hiccup. He screamed in rage, readying his fire.

"Ah, ah, ah, ya beast," the man holding the blade to Hiccup replied as the group manhandled him to where any attempts to fry them would end up with Hiccup receiving most of the blast. "From what we hear, ye don't want to toast this 'uns head now do ye?"

Toothless snarled, still struggling.

The man holding Hiccup's arms, twisted them further while hissing in his ear "Can ye get the beast settled or should we simply hack its head off now?"

The fear that the man would do as he threatened had Hiccup calling to Toothless "Easy bud, easy. Let's all calm down here."

The dragon gave him a look that clearly told him he believed the human had lost his mind. Given all that had happened so quickly Hiccup couldn't really blame him. However with Hiccup continuing to call out calming sounds the dragon settled a bit.

"Kin ye get him to follow peaceably?" The first man who'd spoken asked. Hiccup couldn't see much of him, as the man was mostly behind him, as well as almost all of the daylight had faded into dusk. He could see the typical dark bushy beard of one of his people, but no other characteristics.

"Maybe, but please don't hurt him." Hiccup begged, to the amusement of the men surrounding him.

"So long as no one does anythin' stupid, nobody will get killed." The man assured him. Hiccup noticed he said nothing of being hurt.

As the men dragged Hiccup down the side of the hill, Toothless followed snapping in his irritation at the men on the way. The partially fastened harness had been loosened during the struggle and fell off. It was ignored by the men as they herded boy and dragon.

The group eventually made their way down to one of the many coves along the edge of Berk. Most were ignored due to the lack of protection they provided from the seas during storms. A ship waited there with yet more men aboard. Several got off carrying chains and ropes, most focused on Toothless.

"Keep the beast calm, boy. We were told to be sure of having you, the dragon is just a bonus."

Hiccup begged Toothless to remain calm as chains were fastened to him. Some of the men with ropes approached Hiccup to better secure him. The two were then loaded on to the ship. Toothless was dragged below deck, his snarling and hissing resuming as Hiccup was lost to his sight.

"Easy job this, for all the warnings we got." Said one of the men congratulatory to the others, as he smacked Hiccup across the back of his head with the hilt of his knife.

Hiccup fell into darkness.

A/N: Hope everyone's enjoying this, I'm enjoying writing it.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

In case decides to bump this, all I did were some very, very minor edits. Sorry if it gives you an alert.

Chapter 3

Hiccup awoke to pain and nausea. The pain and part of the nausea were from the smack across his skull, the remaining nausea from the rocking of the boat. Yet another way Hiccup had disappointed his father in his lack of Viking ways had been how he had never gained his sea legs. The past few years this hadn't mattered as much with him being in the air as much as he was.

He heard a faint crooning growl and turned and twisted as he found he was trussed up quite well from his neck to his toes. Finally turned over, he saw Toothless beside him, chained and tied to the floor. He had a muzzle far more complicated than the simple belt Stoick had used locked around his jaw.

The dragon seemed to realize he was awake, immediately trying to get to his feet as he strained to reach his rider. Hiccup heard the floorboards creak where the chains were fastened down.

Hiccup spoke soothingly to the dragon as he wriggled across the floor. He found that someone had tied one rope to his ankle with just enough slack from where it was tied to the wall to allow him to be near enough to Toothless that the dragon could just reach him with his nose to nuzzle him. Whether this was by chance or purpose Hiccup neither knew nor cared. Toothless settled a bit more with Hiccup near him, chains rattling and clanking as he did so.

A thumping noise drew Hiccup's attention. Of course it was coming from the side he had spent so much effort turning away from. He wanted to sigh in exasperation. The thumps turned into footsteps as whomever it was reached the deck. Toothless was immediately on his feet, or near as he could get with the chains, snarling at the newcomer.

"Awake, eh?" Hiccup heard the voice of the man who had held the knife to him. A foot was planted in his side, rolling him to face the man. In the dim light given by the hatch he saw the man was tall and muscular. Definitely a warrior among Vikings. He wore a sword with the ease of one used to the weight. Dark brown hair and beard, with a scar across his forehead, the man looked like he could break Hiccup in half without any effort. "Good, ye probably 'ud like to eat somethin', yah?" The man prodded him with his boot. "Supposed to deliver ye in decent condition."

The man had ignored Toothless' continued low growl throughout his speech, which made Hiccup wonder if the man was suicidally overconfident or stupid. It was only when he really looked at Toothless and saw the dragon trembling that he realized what shape he was in. Hiccup had no idea how long he'd been out, but Toothless hadn't yet eaten the day the attack had occurred. The dragon really preferred to catch his own and that had been one of the plans once they were in the air.

"Has Toothless been fed?" he asked. He looked up at the man from his bound position. "Please, tell me he's been taken care of."

"Why in Odin's name would we risk our limbs over that creature? Are ye daft boy?" the man replied incredulously. "It was work enough getting him down here with the ship in one piece. Had to throw you down here with it or it would've torn the ship apart. The men have been arguing to cut its throat and throw it overboard from the first day."

" I can control him, please just a few fish. He'll probably calm down a bit with some food and water in him."

The man snorted, causing Toothless to jerk and glare even harder at him. "Aye, Ah've heard of the control ye have over the beasts." He cocked his head looking down at Hiccup. "And I suppose ye want me to free your hands to feed the creature and end up releasing yourself and end up causing me no end of grief this close to the end of the voyage." The man stated sarcastically. He paused, thinking. "Fine boy. Ah'll give ye your hands and some fish, but Ah'm takin' ye leg with me. Don't want ye too mobile, see? Deal?" he asked squatting down to Hiccup's level.

"Deal." Hiccup agreed, keeping his fear of losing a large part of his ability to move off of his face.

The man got up and turned to climb back out of the hold.

"He doesn't like eel! Make sure you don't bring any eel!" Hiccup called after him. He pretended not to hear the muttered comments on whether or not he'd noticed he wasn't exactly in the position for demands.

Still bound, he waited after turning back to the side facing Toothless. The dragon was obviously upset, bound down away from the wind.

Several men descended later, some with spears they kept leveled at Toothless, two more with food and water for boy and dragon. These men didn't have the look of trained warriors. Going by the calluses on their hands and their wind-scarred faces Hiccup assumed they were mostly sailors. One untied Hiccup's hands and feet and fairly gently removed his left foot. Effectively hobbled Hiccup crawled over to Toothless. One of the men holding the spears tossed a key to Hiccup. Obviously several locks had been used in chaining down the dragon. The key Hiccup caught only fit the one holding the muzzle in place. Toothless roared at the men as soon as it was removed, causing the two who had brought food and were without weapons at hand to jump back.

Hiccup was right beside the dragon, patting his shoulder, which was as high as he could reach, as Toothless swung his head back and forth announcing his fury loudly. Hiccup hoped he would notice they were trapped and keep his flame under control. Finally he lowered his head to look at Hiccup, a faint unhappy whine emerging as he realized the men were out of range without resorting to fire.

"I know, I know…" Hiccup murmured. "I'm not exactly thrilled at the moment either. We have to keep our strength up though, don't we bud? Look, cod, one of your favorites." He said as he waved one of the uncooked fish temptingly beneath the dragon's mouth.

Toothless flicked one last glance at the men huddled watching the scene warily from the other side of the hold before lowering his head to sniff at the fish. He quickly downed several, keeping watch over both the men and Hiccup. The dragon then looked at Hiccup who hadn't even touched his food.

Hiccup had never felt less like eating. Between the remaining nausea and the worry of what was happening the idea of eating made him feel sick. He suddenly heard the never forgotten sound of a dragon about to regurgitate food to share.

"No! No, no, no… Toothless! I'm fine! See I have food." He hurriedly pointed to the tray in front of him he hadn't touched. The dragon simply stared at him. Hiccup sighed. There was nothing more annoying than a dragon trying to mother hen you. He reluctantly picked up the cooked fish and bit into it. With Toothless watching closely he managed to swallow a couple of bites. Satisfied he'd gotten Hiccup to eat, Toothless returned to his own meal, quickly finishing off the last few fish and the bucket of water.

The men moved away and above decks muttering about how the scrawny Viking had managed to avoid being bit or burned or even scratched a little by the dragon that had fought like a wild thing any time one of them approached it. Some whispered the boy must have been touched by the Gods, at which others looked nervously back at Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't take much notice at the gossip. Even untied as he was, with his leg taken by the men, he wasn't exactly able to get around easily. He crawled closer to Toothless to where the dragon could curl at least a little around him, despite the restraints. The two stayed that way until they fell into an uneasy sleep.

A/N: I just wanted to thank those who reviewed: XCountrySkiier03, Kim Jay, Firebreather339, and ITman496. I'm glad you and everybody else are enjoying the story.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

For anybody worried about updates, I have 10 chapters typed up, and am working on writing the first draft of chapter 14. This sucker won't leave me alone.

Chapter 4

Astrid wasn't sure if she wanted to hug Hiccup when she found him or strangle him. The attackers had retreated and she was going to hunt down that little un-Vikingly Viking and shake some sense into him. She'd seen him on the hillside behind his house right before the chaos broke out. That place caught the sun for the longest on Berk, making it a place Hiccup liked to work as much as Toothless liked to sun himself.

Why, oh why hadn't they joined the fighting? Most of the dragons that lived in and around Berk had taken off at the loud boom. A noise caused when some of the attackers had snuck into one of the storage barns, hacking open casks of flour before throwing a torch into the building. A Zippleback couldn't have been more destructive. Even if Toothless had been startled by it, he would've stayed by Hiccup, Astrid reasoned. You barely saw the two of them separated by more than five feet at any given time.

The attack had been fierce and Astrid had been in the thick of it. She was no longer a stranger to fighting. She'd gotten her first blooding on the deck of one of their ships during a skirmish. That was when she began to be more of Stoick's mind about dealing with the other tribes. For all that Hiccup wanted to negotiate, he hadn't seen the greed and envy of the faces of the men on those ships, wanting to capture them to learn the secrets to controlling the dragons. Though they were perfectly happy slaughtering them as well.

She'd been fighting off two of the attackers coming from the front and had spun at the last possible second, decapitating the one coming from behind with her double-headed axe. Her abilities had been on show quite strongly during the battle. Snotlout had been effusive in his praise at her grace in dispatching one or her speed at disemboweling another. It had been slightly amusing as first, but had quickly become irritating. He'd finally stopped and started paying attention to what was going on when she took off a man's arm at the elbow right behind Snotlout as the man was about to slice him in half.

She blew out the side of her mouth, ruffling her bangs. They could've used the Night Fury's attack, taking out some of the ships. If Hiccup the Squeamish had turned and run to avoid killing, there was no question. She'd fight even Toothless in order to strangle Hiccup.

Strangely enough the fighting had been getting worse when suddenly there was a whistle that echoed across the island. The fighting hadn't stopped, but the men were fighting to get to their boats, rather than to take the village. Astrid wasn't the only one of the warriors confused and concerned over that.

She reached the hillside and stopped, dead.

The ground was torn. Several years of seeing where Hiccup and Toothless had taken off or landed made her recognize the dragon's claw marks when she saw them. The ground continued to be disturbed to the side. She followed. She'd always gotten high marks in tracking, but here the ground was so deeply gouged a toddler could've followed the trail.

She suddenly saw something lying in the track. Her chest grew tight as she recognized Toothless' harness. Hiccup would never willingly leave that. Certainly not twisted and tangled and dropped in a heap. She picked up her speed. Soon she was running down the hillside, praying to any of the Gods who would listen that her fears weren't true.

She reached the cove and saw the marks left by the boat on the gravelly shore. It felt like her heart stopped.

Hiccup and Toothless had been taken.

Hiccup and Toothless were gone.

Shock and horror swelled her throat. She wasn't even capable of screaming, though she wasn't sure if a scream would be of fear or rage or heartbreak. She quickly turned, breaking into an even faster run as she returned to the village. Stoick. Stoick needed to know.

A/N: I was half asleep in bed when I wondered how the villagers of Berk realized Hiccup was gone. Astrid came out of left field, cold-cocked me, and I ended up waking up having to write this bit.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 5

Hiccup woke to a new noise. The past few days had been pretty boring. The sailors would come down with food and water, leaving it far enough away Hiccup would have to crawl away from and back to Toothless with the meals. He couldn't really blame them for keeping their distance as Toothless continued to voice his displeasure whenever he saw any of them, his claws digging in and splintering the wood as though he wanted to bury them in their guts. Which Hiccup figured was true.

The noise was soft but rhythmic. It took him a moment to realize it was the ship rubbing against something. A pier or another ship, he had no way of knowing which.

The loud footsteps of a number of men climbing into the hold caused him to jerk around. Toothless began his low and continuing growl as soon as he saw them.

"Alright boy, ye be puttin' that muzzle back on the beast now, ye hear?" The man who'd been the only one to speak to him called. Hiccup still didn't know his name. Introductions hadn't seemed important recently. The other men behind him weren't the sailors who'd been on the trip, but other Vikings who were large and burly and obviously capable of violence. They hefted weapons in Toothless' direction to indicate what would happen if Hiccup didn't obey.

Hiccup reluctantly picked up the muzzle from where he had dropped days before. He turned towards his dragon, who regarded the muzzle with distaste, the tip of his tail lashing.

"I'm sorry buddy, really I am," Hiccup started. "But please let me put this one. Please, I don't want you hurt further."

Toothless tilted his head, regarding Hiccup and the warriors both. He let out a loud sigh, the agitated twitching of his tail showing how much he disliked this idea, as he lowered his head to Hiccup. Hiccup felt his eyes burn at the trust his dragon had in him. He blinked rapidly. A Viking didn't cry. A Viking certainly didn't cry in front of an enemy.

As soon as the lock was snapped shut the men moved in. Most of them, strong and burly as they were, went towards Toothless. Some attached yet more chains, while others loosened the ropes and chains that had secured the dragon to the ship. The man who had talked with Hiccup grabbed him, hefting him in to his arms. Hiccup's whole face burned with the humiliation. Not only was he incapable of walking, but he was still small enough to be carried around like a baby.

Toothless, who had been watching the men work around him tensely, jerked to his feet as Hiccup was grabbed. Some of the men swore as chain and rope were pulled through their hands. Quickly they gained some control over the powerful dragon and set themselves to maneuver him as they left the hold. The man carrying Hiccup moved towards the stairs, with Toothless watching each step. The dragon followed after them surrounded by the Vikings holding his chains.

Hiccup was almost relieved to breathe fresh air again after the cramped hold. He looked around and felt his heart sink. While the buildings themselves were of a style he recognized, none of the decorations or patterns adorning them was familiar. The familiar shapes mixed with the unfamiliar decorations made him suddenly feel homesick and scared. He'd been knocked out before the ship had left the cove, and then kept in a dim and dark hold unable to see the stars, he had no idea which direction he had traveled.

There were shouts behind him as Toothless decided to ignore the stairs, leaping straight to the deck. The ship rocked suddenly from the weight shift. The men who lost their grip quickly climbed out and latched on again. Toothless glanced at them with a superior look that clearly said, "See, it's only because I let you that you have any chance of controlling me." One of the men on the chains swore and said, "Should've starved th' damned thing th' whole trip. Would've been easier ta handle then."

The sudden rocking of the ship had the man holding Hiccup stumble and almost drop him over the side into the harbor. Toothless snarled at the man's lack of care, as he regained his balance and half dragged, half carried Hiccup up the gang plank to the pier. While it was nice to feel the solid sensation of the planks beneath his feet, Hiccup turned to look for Toothless. The dragon was standing on deck watching his jailers. Hiccup noticed the dragon's devilish expression, generally only seen when he decided to go into crazy looping and spinning flights that left Hiccup's stomach a few miles behind them. Suddenly the dragon leaped from the deck to the pier, the same as when he left the hold. The farther jump had jarred the men holding him, causing a number of them to lose their grips, and dragging others over the side to fall into the water. More men from the shore descended on Toothless to take up the slack. Toothless himself jerked his head back and forth, and there was no question that had the muzzle been gone he would've been snapping his teeth at the least. Tearing limbs off was more likely.

Toothless then pulled towards the man holding Hiccup, and even all of the others holding him back did nothing. The man released Hiccup hurriedly as the dragon approached. The loss of support and the lack of his leg had Hiccup falling. Toothless lunged forward, his rider landing across his neck rather than face first into the ground. Hiccup heard the odd chuckling growl Toothless gave when he was pleased with himself. The dragon then shifted and moved in a way so Hiccup could pull himself up on to his shoulders. It was a far more precarious position when there was nothing to hold on to. One of the men protested at Hiccup being carried there, but Toothless only tensed slightly. Realizing there would be a fight to get the teen off that they, even outnumbering and outweighing the dragon, might not win, the consensus ruled to leave him there as long as the dragon behaved.

Despite being grounded, despite the chains and ropes about him, Toothless carried himself regally. His proud pacing didn't jar Hiccup at all and it was easy for the human to keep his seat.

This odd little parade continued through the village, heading towards what Hiccup assumed was their Great Hall.

* * *

A/N: And yet more thanks to my reviewers! I'm glad all of you are enjoying the story. I will admit that I was worried, but I'm thrilled with all of the responses. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 6

One thing Hiccup noticed was the sheer amount of attention the procession was receiving. It took him a moment to remember that these people had never seen a dragon that wasn't attempting to attack and kill them, not to mention it was likely the first time any of them had seen the elusive Night Fury, rather than just the effects of one's attack.

Women were watching from every doorway grabbing at the children who wanted to run out, assuming if one boy could ride the dragon then any could. Toothless had gotten used to littles running about him, since Hiccup was almost constantly pestered by the boys and girls of his home village for stories. They would frequently hover about the forge, managing to make even more noise than a flock of Terrible Terrors, asking questions or begging for stories. The favorite tale was about how Hiccup and Toothless defeated the Queen Dragon, but equally enthralling to the youngsters were Hiccup's stories of befriending Toothless. They always shrieked in laughter when he told them about how the dragon believed in sharing his fish. They generally ended up hanging around until either Gobber had had enough and bellowed for them to get out, or their mothers came looking for them, embarrassed that their offspring was bothering one of the village Heroes. Toothless had held himself aloof from the children, but had never snarled at them.

Here, walking among strange houses, surrounded by strange people, Toothless simply snorted whenever one of the children who had slipped their keeper's grasp came too near. Just that reaction was enough to cause them to shriek and run back to safety for most. The dragon may have more or less ignored the children, but any adult trying to come near was met with a sharp glance and a deep growl.

The difference in this place and his home struck Hiccup sharply. In such a short time, two years barely, it had become so normal to him to see Deadly Nadders roosting on the thatch, Monstrous Nightmares walking through the streets or soaring through the air with their riders, Terrible Terrors flocking about or curled in someone's lap. Seeing the fear in most eyes watching had him patting Toothless.

"Easy there. I don't know why somebody wants us here, but lets try not to panic _all_ of the locals, okay?" Hiccup whispered close to the dragon's ear flap. Toothless simply huffed, which wasn't exactly an agreement.

Two men ahead of them pulled open the doors to the Great Hall as the group made their way up. It wasn't quite as tall and echoing as Hiccup's own, but it seemed to go deeper into the hill. Torches illuminated the space. The group was surrounded by more warriors as they made their way to a dais where a man waited, seated upon a heavily carved stone throne. Growing up with the spectacle of Stoick the Vast as his father, his initial impression of the man was that he was less than impressive. The man seemed tall enough as well as well muscled, but not massively so. He seemed to be about early middle years, old enough to be an experienced warrior, but young enough that he hadn't yet lost fighting trim. Black hair and beard stood out from his surprisingly pale skin. His dark eyes shrewdly observed the dragon and others approaching.

"Chief, as you can see, I, Othvald the Canny, have completed the quest you assigned. I have brought both the Dragon Master and the tame Night Fury." Announced the one man who'd been the only one to talk directly to Hiccup since this whole thing started. The man looked arrogantly at Hiccup where he was perched on Toothless.

Hiccup raised his head. He may have been the shortest person in the room, and yes he was at a disadvantage without his foot, but he was the son of Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk and had tamed the dragons of Berk as well as having destroyed a Queen Dragon who probably would've sent most of the men in the room running for cover. He couldn't quite manage arrogance, but he could pull off pride. Toothless felt his change in attitude, straightening himself and drawing his chest up.

The man flicked his eyes over Hiccup, lingering for a moment on the empty space where his leg had been, and a longer gaze at the sight of Toothless standing relatively calmly despite being surrounded and chained.

"I am Avric the Vicious, Chief of Dornar. I have heard of the Dragon Master of Berk. I had wished to know more of his skills in dealing with the deadly beasts." The Chief announced. He then gave a vague gesture that took in Hiccup. "I had expected a more…" he trailed off.

"A more Vikingly Viking?" Hiccup finished managing to keep a polite tone while speaking through clenched teeth. He still hated people who dismissed him due to his looks.

"That will do," Avric replied. "I had assumed that most of the claims were exaggerated if not outright lies, yet that is a Night Fury is it not?"

Hiccup rubbed soothing circles on Toothless' neck, feeling a very low growl that was more sensation than sound emanating from the dragon. "Yes, Toothless is a Night Fury. He allows me to ride him."

"How on earth did you get close enough in order to tame the beast?" Avric leaned forward in his seat with interest.

Hiccup could see from the interest of the rest of the tribe around him that Avric wasn't the only person interested in his tale. His spirits began to rise, here was a chance for him to show his father that he was wrong that other tribes would attack them as weak once the secret was out. From the interest they gave they wanted to know how to get a dragon as he had. Granted he could've gone without the kidnapping, but given the stubbornness and pride among Vikings the idea of going to another tribe and simply asking for Hiccup's aid could've been seen as weakness. It was a slightly backward compliment that they had sent so many to bring him back to their island. He began to tell the tale of how he and Toothless had met. He was interrupted by Avric shortly, "So you injured the dragon? Did that help?" He seemed almost eager at the idea.

"Huh? Wha…No! No, I just felt I owed it to Toothless to fix what I had damaged." Hiccup hastily spoke, wanting to get that idea thrown out quickly.

"And how have you done that? As I see it the dragon is still missing his fin."

"I have a harness I built." He grimaced. "I think it was left on Berk, it has an artificial fin that I operate to help him fly." Hiccup grinned at the memories "It took some work to get him to trust me enough to allow me to put it on him, let alone for us to fly together. And a great deal of trial and error." H smiled down at the dragon beneath him, wishing to be in the air now.

"My Chief, you can't believe this child's story can you?" The question was voiced by a young man, perhaps three or so years older than Hiccup. He was however about a foot and some taller and more than twice as wide. He also had a thick black beard making him look much older than the clean-shaven Hiccup. Hiccup had been trying to grow a beard, a vain hope that it would make him look older and not as much of a scrawny teen in his mind. Fishlegs and Snotlout already had grown thick full beards for their age, and even Tuffnut had some wispy hairs on his chin. As it was he looked even younger than his years next to this Viking. The man continued looking at Hiccup with disgust, "It is well known that the Dragon Master has tamed dragons for others to ride. As none have ever seen a Night Fury we only have his word that that dragon is what he says." He snorted. "For it's fearsome reputation it's a fairly small creature. It's shorter than either a Nadder or Nightmare. I would see him tame an unknown dragon to prove his standing."

There were yells of agreement as malicious glances turned to Hiccup. He assumed they thought he would back down, prevaricate and come up with some excuse of why he couldn't do a demonstration. Instead he raised his chin.

"I see no reason not to show my skills," he stated. "My only request is for either my leg returned to me or a crutch be provided." He thought for a moment. "And a few fish to take into the arena."

This provoked a great deal of laughter. "What will he do, beat it with a haddock?" was one of the nicer comments he overheard. Hiccup waited for the noise to die down. Toothless shifted restlessly beneath him, his head swinging from side to side as he watched the men laugh and argue.

Once Avric finally held up a hand to call for quiet, Hiccup spoke again.

"When I prove who I am," he ignored the rude whispers of "If" from around him. "I want the chains removed from Toothless, and him given his freedom."

Avric watched him like a hawk. "And if we don't?" he asked.

"I don't have to teach my methods." Hiccup replied with a casual shrug, trying to hide his nervousness.

Avric leaned back in his throne. "The chains I will agree to, should you survive. The freedom not so much. I've already heard tales of the damage it has inflicted when chained and have no wish to see what it could do when loose. There is an empty pen in our Training grounds. It can stay there."

Knowing he wasn't so much bargaining as being humored, Hiccup agreed.

"You Dirk the Bludgeoner shall choose which dragon our Dragon master shall face." Avric declared as he looked at the young man who had challenged Hiccup's claims.

* * *

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A/N: Enjoy the chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 7

Hiccup stood alone in Dornar's arena. The alone part had been a bit of a difficulty. Toothless, still chained and muzzled, had been taken to one of the empty pens. He had gone along fine, until Hiccup slid from his back. One of the guards had handed the boy a crutch with a shove and a comment of "There, now it's time for ye to show yer abilities." As Hiccup was knocked towards the door Toothless realized he wasn't staying. He went insane, thrashing and fighting. While Hiccup was almost certain Toothless wouldn't hurt him, he was also certain the dragon would find some way of making him regret leaving.

The arena was far different than the one on Berk. Berk's had been built and carved by Hiccup's ancestors over time. Dornar's on the other hand was far more natural. It had been originally a caldera of an extinct volcano. It was far deeper than Berk's with a gallery carved into the wall of it for the observers. Thick pillars were there to hold the chains that protected the watchers as well as giving them something to duck behind in case of an errant flame. There were chains also over the top, giving enough room for even a Monstrous Nightmare room to fly short distances. There were only two entrances. Tunnels carved into the rock linked the pens together in a common hallway. The other was the main entrance for combatants.

Crowds had gathered to watch. It was rather unnerving. The last time Hiccup had had this many people watching, they'd been cheering, expecting to see him kill his first dragon. This crowd seemed to be equally happy to see him mauled as to see him calm and control a dragon. There were loud bets being made as to how long it would take for him to be killed.

The crutch wasn't as useful as his prosthetic would've been, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They also hadn't given him any fish. They had been "nice" enough to give him a Last Meal and he'd managed to slip some into his vest. It wasn't totally necessary, but he had yet to find a dragon that turned its nose up at a tidbit.

Hiccup steadied himself as well as he could, the crutch being a bit too small for him to comfortably use. While it allowed him to stand and get around it would be useless if he needed to move quickly. He tried to maintain his calm, staying calm would hopefully get through to whatever dragon he would face. He remembered his facing the Monstrous Nightmare, how it had calmed and things had been going well, at least until his dad had smacked his hammer against the bars.

The crowd noise died down and Hiccup saw Avric push to the front. "My people, we are here to see this young man prove his reputation. We shall see if he truly is the Dragon Master or if the Gods shall show him a liar." The crowd roared at the end of this short speech.

As the crowd roared, the door to the dragon's area was thrown open. A Deadly Nadder burst through shrieking. It hopped about, releasing a deadly shot of fire that splashed against one of the pillars. Hiccup almost giggled in relief. About the only dragon easier he'd found was a Gronkle. He'd been worried that it'd be a Monstrous Nightmare, which while normally he wouldn't be bothered, with only a crutch he'd be hard pressed to dodge if it was nervy enough to set itself on fire. Still, he heard a number of shouts from the crowd. Apparently this one was known for having killed the most trainees when in the ring with them of all the dragons they used. It was a known man-eater as well, refusing to leave the bodies of those it killed, trying to gulp them down before the trainers fought it back. Hiccup heard catcalls from the crowd yelling down at him that they were sure he'd taste great.

The dragon spotted him as it slowed its raging. It lowered its head, bobbing as it stalked towards him. He simply stood there watching it approach. While he preferred to walk toward the dragons, standing still was better than running backwards which could be seen as the actions of prey. The dragon stopped a few yards away, chittering and swaying as it studied him. He noticed it focusing on the crutch he held. It hissed at him, and the sound of the crowd rose again at the sight of the dragon's ire. Hiccup carefully lowered himself to the ground, the Nadder watching him. Its head turned from side to side. As soon as he was seated he shoved the crutch away, carefully aiming so it wouldn't go near the dragon. The dragon's head jerked to watch it tumble away. He hadn't known that it was this nerve-wracking to watch the dragon choose to come near, without being able to move quickly if things went wrong. He kept a careful eye on the dragon, ready to roll if it looked like it was going to blast him with fire. Hiccup raised his hands, showing they were empty. The dragon sidled over to where he was sitting, as the crowd seemed to hold its breath. Hiccup's hand reached out, touching the creature's chin as it came closer. He immediately began to rub and scratch at it while speaking soothing nonsense to it. The Nadder took the remaining steps to bring itself beside the boy.

Hiccup smiled, part relief, part the joy he always felt when one of the dragons allowed him near when they had never let another human so close. The Nadder lowered itself into a sitting position, its wings folded along its sides. The dragon then lowered its head until it rested the chin on the ground beside Hiccup. Hiccup took the opportunity to thread his narrow but long fingers through the dangerous looking spikes that decorated a Nadder's head scratching enthusiastically at the base of them. It was a spot that was almost impossible for a Nadder to reach. The dragon immediately relaxed, the only faster relaxation he'd seen was when he scratched that special spot on a dragon's neck. It was doing a low rumbling growl that was the draconic equivalent to a purr. He slipped the fish he'd swiped into the dragon's mouth causing the growling noise to increase from the pleasure.

Hiccup looked up at the crowd, which was silent. Dirk looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his face. Hiccup was relaxed now, his lack of stress communicating to the dragon who shifted to become more comfortable. Ruffnut and Tuffnut would've burst into hysterical laughter to find that Hiccup had been worried at all. The two of them were pretty certain that Hiccup had an almost magical touch with any dragon. He was equally sure that rumor was going to start on this island fairly shortly. The sight of a man-eater lying calmly beside a scrap of a boy would cause rumors to fly even faster.

Avric stood watching Hiccup where he sat next to the now calm dragon.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 8

Hiccup entered the pen where Toothless had been left. It was a large cavern within the mountain, most likely created back when the island had been a volcano. There were holes drilled through the solid rock, which allowed light and fresh air in but the smallness of the holes and the thickness of the rock prevented dragons from getting out. A trough was nearby, he'd heard one of the men mention they had a cistern system that kept them filled, so they didn't have to risk facing the dragons more than necessary. Toothless was lying on his belly, still bound and chained, in the middle of one of the patches of light. His dark hide seemed to absorb the sunlight, becoming darker despite the brightness.

Hiccup winced. The dragon was completely still, except for his tail, which slid back and forth in a slow arc. Toothless wasn't just angry, he was _pissed_. His eyes were half closed and the pupils were so narrow they were only a line bisecting the livid green. He didn't even look at Hiccup as he limped towards him on the crutch. His ear flaps were pressed down to his head, not even twitching a little at Hiccup's arrival. It was obvious the dragon had spent the entire time they were apart stewing in his rage.

Hiccup sighed. He held the keys for all of the locks that bound the dragon. As he went near the furious Night Fury he spoke "Hey Toothless, um… I'm sorry to have left you. Really I am. But hey, I got keys to let you loose." He raised the keys causing them to jingle. He gave the seething dragon a wobbly smile.

The dragon still hadn't moved. Hiccup began to untangle all of the restraints starting with the muzzle. The Dornarans had given him a small knife, smaller than the one he'd lost into the lake where he'd met Toothless, to cut the ropes where the knots had swelled from the ocean air. He carefully removed each chain and rope, untangling the net that had fouled the dragon's wings. He worked carefully, but quickly. He began to smile seeing the black scales free of encumbrances. As the last chain slithered off of the dragon's scales to pool beside him, Hiccup smiled at Toothless and spoke "There you are, all gon-"

Toothless sprang to his feet, knocking Hiccup to the ground. He placed one of his forelegs on Hiccup's chest, giving Hiccup flashbacks to their first meeting right down to the dragon screaming directly at his face. His ears ringing, Hiccup watched as Toothless vaulted over him. The dragon shifted his weight enough that the paw on the boy's chest didn't crush him, but left enough so the breath was completely knocked out of him. The Night Fury then rampaged around the pen, screaming his rage and punctuating it occasionally with a burst of fire. Hiccup wondered if anyone waiting outside the pen had fled at hearing the shrieks and screams of Toothless.

Hiccup watched the display feeling horribly guilty about what had happened to the dragon. He had never wanted to see Toothless caged. The dragon was far too proud and gorgeous to his eyes to pen. He did notice that no matter how fast the dragon ricocheted off of the walls, how carelessly he seemed to throw his fire, Hiccup was never trampled nor ever came close to being singed. When the dragon finally slowed, his chest heaving, Hiccup reached for his crutch, which had been knocked away by Toothless' attack. He slowly levered himself up from where he'd been knocked down. Maneuvering his crutch he hobbled over to where Toothless rested facing away from him.

Right before he could touch the dragon, Toothless took off again bounding about the pen though not as long, settling like before facing away from him. Just far enough away to make a point. The guilt grew in Hiccup's chest as he tried to approach again. Again the Night Fury bolted the second before Hiccup touched him. Hiccup felt tears fill his eyes at the rejection. Ever since the first time Toothless had allowed Hiccup to touch him, he'd never so thoroughly refused him. The dragon was sitting across the pen, his back to the boy and his tail lashing angrily. Hiccup sank back to the ground, his head falling to his chest.

It was quiet in the pen for a little while. Suddenly Hiccup's crutch, which lay across his lap, jerked. His head shot up as he saw Toothless nudging his crutch. He simply looked at the dragon, begging silently for forgiveness. Toothless' pupils had expanded again. Hiccup released the crutch only to see the dragon seize it in his teeth and fling it across the room with a loud clatter. The dragon then settled next to him regarding him patiently,

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry this happened." Hiccup cried as he reached for the dragon, happiness and relief filling him as Toothless moved his head closer. "I didn't want to leave you, you know I didn't." He shut his eyes and leaned forward as Toothless' head rubbed against his own. His voice breaking, he continued. "I just couldn't stand to see you bound anymore. I couldn't!"

Toothless made his calm purring noise. He then began to look his rider over, sniffing him intently. The dragon even nudged him several times to check him over closer. He snarled at Hiccup partway through. Hiccup smiled "You're worse than Astrid when any of the other girls on the island glance at me." He rubbed the dragon's neck. "I swear the Nadder meant nothing to me." Toothless tilted his head as he spoke, butting him softly in the chest when he finished. He then curled his body around the boy, arching his wing to cover Hiccup.

Hiccup relaxed against Toothless, glad he'd been forgiven. As busy as the day had been, he quickly found his head bobbing. He then shifted until he was comfortable and slipped into sleep, knowing he was guarded by the powerful dragon.

* * *

A/N: I personally would never want to see a pissed off Night Fury.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 9

Hiccup smiled. He looked over at the Nadder he had faced a little over a day and a half ago. It was calmly watching as other Vikings of the Isle of Dornar came close, petting it and offering tidbits of fish. Toothless stood right next to him, bored at the activity before them. Given that he still bared his teeth at anyone who came near, he was left alone. While Chief Avric had refused to allow the Night Fury loose on the island as people were still too nervous around dragons, he allowed him to accompany Hiccup as long as they kept to the Training areas. Given how rarely Hiccup had left it anyways, he didn't see it as a hardship.

He'd woken up the day after facing the Nadder stiff and sore. Stone was even more uncomfortable than the deck of a ship, even with a dragon as your pillow. Especially with a dragon as your pillow he decided as he ran his hand down his jaw, feeling the marks left imprinted on his cheek by Toothless' hard scales. He'd gone to the door that led to the common tunnel of the dragon's area and then to the arena to find guards there. They were courteous as they informed him that the Night Fury had the freedom of the arena. They had also brought a basket of fish, leaving it beside the doorway for Toothless to break his fast.

When the two of them made it to the training grounds, Toothless carrying Hiccup by his own insistence (where insistence consisted of a small controlled fireball incinerating his crutch), Hiccup found others hovering in the Gallery and about the entrance to see him. As he slid down Toothless' right shoulder to the ground he saw two girls break away from the bunch near the entrance. They came closer and Hiccup could see one carried a bedroll and blankets, the other a platter that smelled wonderful. The girl with the bedroll set her packages down, watching Toothless with wide eyes. When Toothless used his tail to sweep the items closer in, she gave a small shriek and darted back to the entrance. The other was made of sterner stuff, though she jumped a bit when Toothless moved as well. She sidled up to Hiccup keeping her eyes on the dragon, who watched her closely. Hiccup took the platter, smiling and thanking her for the food. She gave a quick, shy smile back before hurrying away to the entrance as well.

Neither of the girls compared to Astrid in Hiccup's mind. They obviously never trained to fight, though he was sure their home-keeping skills were top-notch. Maybe he'd spent too much time around the dragons. He preferred a girl with fire in her heart. Those two had been pretty, but far too mild for his taste. Not to mention Toothless liked Astrid, and had a tendency to step on Hiccup's good foot if his eyes strayed too long. He still didn't know if Astrid had suggested that behavior or if Toothless had decided on his own.

Hiccup had eaten the meal watching with a bit of humor at the people gathered at the far end of the arena. People seemed to circulate almost continually to look at the boy who had tamed a man-eater and the legendary Night Fury who had borne him to the Chief and stayed so near him. Toothless had watched the people too, but with far more hostility. Eventually one man was brave enough to cross the floor of the arena. He'd been the first to cautiously asked Hiccup about how one went about taming a dragon. Others had drifted over, closer enough to overhear, yet far enough away they hoped to avoid the Night Fury should it choose to attack.

He'd spent the next day and a half working with the Nadder. He'd started to call it Bloodwings as it had a high percentage of red in the speckling on its wings. It already responded to the name. Each day more men, and a few women joined him as he talked about the dragons and what he'd learned each liked. Today he was going to work with the Monstrous Nightmare the Dornarans had. Toothless was tense beside him. After rescuing Hiccup from the one Nightmare, he'd never been all that thrilled to see Hiccup near any others. Hiccup saw most if not all of those in the arena leave, the only exceptions being the Vikings working with the Nadder, who were leading it back to its pen and would leave by the human-sized door within it. Those doorways led to a small access corridor that was mostly used by drudges when they fed the dragons or cleaned their pens while they were out fighting the warriors.

Hiccup was hopeful. Things were working well. He had high hopes that he could train the warriors here and show his father that they now had new allies who would then work with the Berklanders to show other tribes that the war against the dragons was unnecessary and wasteful.

The gate entrance to the arena closed, the people who had left filing into the galleries above. Dirk the Bludgeoner was front and foremost in there. He glared at Hiccup, looking like he'd love nothing more than to do a great deal of violence on the younger boy. Part of this was Hiccup showing him up with his skills with the dragons, he assumed, and the rest and probably larger part was the way girls flocked about Hiccup. None of them approached too closely, worried about Toothless' reaction. While Hiccup had worked with the girls and women who had taken the warrior's path, as Astrid and his own mother had, they were far more interested in learning his techniques than flirting. That just left the rest of the female population following him with their eyes. He'd overheard one group wishing their own suitors were as kind and sweet as Hiccup, and he'd found himself receiving small treats with his meals. Bits of sweet baked bread, or preserved fruit in honey, delivered by one of the many young women with a wink towards him.

It still unnerved him, even on his home of Berk, how greatly his status had changed. Going from social pariah to overawing hero in a short space of time was weird. A few days at home, literally overnight here, left him feeling unbalanced.

The men outside shouted a warning, knocking Hiccup out of his thoughts, as they released the Nightmare. The dragon burst through the doors on fire. The way it moved, jerky and halting instead of smooth and fluid showed how fearful the creature was to Hiccup's gaze. One who was used to seeing a dragon attacking and fighting wouldn't have probably known that it was wrong. He'd been told that this one had been used in training for years, it's wariness towards humans well ingrained. Toothless shifted restlessly as the Nightmare bounded around, ready to grab Hiccup and run if it headed too near.

Again Hiccup worked his magic, calmly facing the dragon, using Toothless' shoulder to help him walk forward. Toothless, who even when glaring suspiciously at the other dragon, helped immensely. Dragons were social creatures, even when not under the compulsion of their Queen. Seeing another dragon relaxed and touching one of the creatures the Nightmare had only know from the pain and abuse it had received when facing one made it pause and become far more willing to accept a pat and a scratch from Hiccup. Especially when said scratches were followed by a fish or two.

Hiccup grinned triumphantly as he looked up at the gathered crowds, who cheered their approval. He turned his head, ignoring the gaze of Dirk, which was so full of hate it felt as if it burned the back of his neck.

* * *

A/N: Hiccup+crutch=leaving and Hiccup-crutch=staying, therefore crutch=leaving therefore torch the crutch. Toothless math :)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 10

It was only a few short days later that Hiccup had met and worked with the Terrible Terror and Gronkle the Dornaran's had. Both dragons were almost ridiculously easy compared to the others as both tended to think more with their stomachs than anything else. As they had no Hideous Zipplebacks, apparently that breed kept to the farther north, he had then turned to working with the dragons and humans together to let both sides become more used to one another. The sixth night he'd been on the island there was a meeting among the warrior elders and chief he never knew of.

The men met in a smaller chamber off of the Great Hall. It was paneled in intricately carved wood, which made the space seem warmer and more private. Avric sat at the head of the table within the room. He leaned forward enough to rest his elbows on the table. "So," he spoke. "What do you think of the Dragon Master?" His eyes met those of the other men in the room.

"He's a fool." One man stated with a loud snort. His beard, red and tangled, jerked with the movement. His nose was missing a piece from a fight with another Viking in his youth. He'd won the fight, but the other man had been a biter. He narrowed dark blue eyes. "Worse yet, he's an innocent fool."

"He does have a way with the dragons." Another man ventured.

The first speaker gave a bark of derisive laughter. "Tricks is all he has. No more than what I've used to train my hounds. And it's only because he was too gutless to kill that he even attempted it." He looked around the table. "Last I heard cowardice wasn't a virtue among our people."

"The men say he's firm enough in training, hates it when they get to threatening to the beasts." Another of the elders stated. "They humor him, backing down though it hurts their pride to do so to such a scrawny child. Several though, we should consider separating from the boy. Mostly the younger ones. I've been hearing some of them disagreeing with our plans and would rather not have the boy alerted to them early."

"His foolishness makes 'im easy t' control, though." Spoke another man, the one who had captured Hiccup, Othvald.

"Oh aye. Give him a pat on the back and a few words of praise and he lights up better than the Northern Lights." The first man, who was called Birgnar, stated. "Just goes to show how simple he is."

"I think he keeps that dragon so close as it has all of its own canny and the boy's as well." Another man, Gosti, said.

Avric nodded. "As much as I would've enjoyed seeing the boy and how he handles flying, I'm glad you left his flying kit behind. The way his beast looks I have a feeling it would've been air-born long before now, taking the boy back to his home land whether he agreed or not." He paused. "Have any of you heard anything of how the Berklanders or their Chief have responded to the boy's disappearance?"

"I have," stated Othvald. "Th' sailors speak of seein' a great deal more of the ships from Berk. They've been pulling into ports in every Island of the archipelago, startin' with those nearest 'em and workin' outwards. Supposedly they're there to trade, but the tradin' is done quickly without much barganin'. They say their sailors seem distracted and there's a large number of warriors on each ship for it being a simple tradin' run. Their ships are coming closer to our island everyday."

"Yet with all of their ships out searching for Stoick's lost child, there must be few people left back home." Avric stated. There were quiet murmurs and nods around the table at this statement. Several looked smug and pleased at the idea.

"Ha," Bergnar barked. "Spending all of that time searching for a scrawny little runt. If my son Dirk had been such a useless wretch, I'd've left him to die on a barren island a long, long time ago."

"Aye, Stoick should've married again after the first died so quick. Gotten more sons, better ones that way." Gosti said, shaking his head. "Then he'd've seen that this boy was a lost cause. Wouldn't've spent so much time coddling the boy."

"I always wondered why the boy was never brought to any of the gatherings before. I assumed that he was too protective of the boy as he was his only one." Bergnar drawled. "I never figured that it was because the he was a complete fool."

Avric listened as the men controlled the discussion, watching those who hadn't spoke as they nodded in agreement, or shook their head at such foolishness that they were hearing.

"As weak as he is, I've heard Stoick's still planning on having him as his heir." Othvald replied. "His skill at manipulating beasts apparently being more impressive than his lack of any other Viking qualities."

"WHAT?" Bellowed both Gosti and Bergnar, as the others in the room shouted their dismay and disbelief.

"If that doesn't prove how soft Stoick's gotten in his age, nothing will." Bergnar said shaking his head, as the others argued that such a rumor must be a joke. No one could see a complete non-warrior like the boy as Chief. Even if Berk was no longer bothered by dragons, there were still raids to conduct, as well as proving yourself strong to avoid having other tribes challenging you.

Avric leaned back in his chair and raised his hand for silence among the still arguing men.

"Gosti, Bergnar, I want you to see that those who have learned the Dragon Master's techniques pass them on to others. Especially those who seemed to have become more sympathetic to his ideas. Keep them away from him. I'll distract the boy with the last dragon we have. Make sure everything is ready."

The others nodded as the group broke up and left the room.

A/N: To my mind Hiccup has a slight problem with tunnel vision. i.e. "I want to do this therefore I need to do that" which can work when you need to accomplish something but can also backfire in the whole "Possible repercussions? What do you mean?" when it comes to dealing with things. I mean he proved he was pretty impulsive in releasing a really ticked off dragon in the movie, when no Viking had ever seen one or possibly died when they did. I get a feeling his impulsiveness got him into a lot of trouble as a child.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 11

Hiccup watched over the training grounds, standing beside Toothless on his good leg, with pride. Unlike Berk which had gotten a large influx of dragons right after the battle with the Queen, both from the dragons carrying Vikings back after most of the ships had burned and from the others simply following the remaining ships as they sailed back to port, Dornar was using the tame ones they had on hand to attract others. The wild dragons would see their brethren laying at ease around the village and descend from their flights to investigate. Men who Hiccup had trained would then approach the dragons, gaining their trust. While they still didn't have the numbers Berk did, people now had the chance to adjust to the idea of dragons living around them. According to Astrid there'd been a bit of a panic when the warriors had returned on the backs of dragons. Since the group of trainees had more or less snuck off with the dragons from the training grounds, not giving anybody notice that they were leaving, no one had expected such a return. Hiccup was still glad he'd been unconscious during that time. As it was things were working well here and he was certain he would soon be able to show his father that others could live in peace with the dragons, hopefully making him see that Hiccup could teach all of the tribes the same.

He noticed a surprising number of people in the arena, including Dirk. That had shocked him as the young man had steadfastly avoided the training Hiccup offered, making derisive comments meant to be heard whenever Hiccup was below him up in the gallery. The way Dirk acted, always so vicious towards him, reminded Hiccup of the worst summer of his life, back when he'd been eight. Snotlout had gotten it into his head to see how many times he could make the smaller boy cry, which had frequently involved punches. The worst part had been when he'd dragged himself back to his home, only to find his father there. Stoick had never bellowed or yelled, simply looking at his bedraggled son and giving a sigh as he shook his head. Hiccup had felt that hearing the yelling about how he needed to man up and fight back would've been easier to take than the quiet disappointment. He had begun to retreat to the woods to lick his wounds in private. The only good thing that had come of it was his reputation for disappearing into the woods, which had helped immensely when hiding Toothless. The following winter his father had handed him off to Gobber to train.

He frowned, there were an awful lot of people in the arena, with more entering. The dragons were behaving pretty well, but crowding them was never a good idea. He was about to head towards the largest group, when he heard his title called. Toothless obligingly turned as Hiccup partially hopped to keep up. He saw Avric coming up to him.

"Dragon Master! Ah… I believe it's Hiccup correct?" Avric asked with a slight smile. It had taken several days for Hiccup to get most of the people he'd worked with to call him by his name, rather than his rather pretentious title.

"Yeah, I've been trying to get people to call me that." Hiccup replied, using his free hand to ruffle his hair. "They seem to remember fine, until I end up taking over on a difficult dragon and have it relaxed in half the time of anybody else. I keep telling them it's only experience working for me, but" he shrugged in exasperation. "Everybody acts like it's magic."

Avric chuckled, he looked like he was going to come close enough to pat Hiccup on the shoulder only to glance at Toothless. The dragon had his head turned enough that the Chief could see his jaw had dropped open and his teeth were out. Toothless didn't like him, hadn't liked almost any of the adult men on the island. Hiccup wasn't sure why. True they had a rough start, but now they were mostly treated like honored guests, though the dragon was still restricted to the arena. He simply put it down to him not being able to fly. Which reminded him, he needed to see if he could get to a forge, to remake his harnesss…. His thoughts were interrupted by Avric speaking again.

"There's one more dragon we have here other than the common breeds, however it's never been used for training. Far too vicious. It was captured by my great grandfather. I'm thinking you've probably never seen the species as I have gone and listened to your lectures and never heard you mention one with its description.

Hiccup perked up. The opportunity to see a new dragon always interested him.

However," Avric continued. "The beast has shown a remarkable amount of territorialism over its pen. I'm not sure bringing the Night Fury would be very helpful."

Hiccup looked down at Toothless, who looked back a worried whine coming from his throat. He'd forgiven Hiccup for leaving him once, but since that time anytime the boy managed to get a hold of a crutch it was vaporized as soon as Toothless could manage. The dragon refused to allow him out and about with out him. And without a crutch, or preferably Toothless, he'd be at a severe disadvantage when meeting a new dragon with a bad reputation.

Avric apparently saw his hesitation and smiled, wider this time. "I had assumed you would be nervous entering into unknown circumstances with a crutch, so the Elders and I discussed it. You've shown that you act with honor and so long as you swear to not try to harm anyone on the island, it was agreed to give you your artificial leg back."

Hiccup relaxed and smiled back. "I agree, gladly." He responded. "It will be nice not to feel all twisted over, trying to compensate for the loss." Toothless gave a low muttering sounding growl. Hiccup rubbed the dragon's head. " I know you've been a great help, I just want to stand on my own two feet."

Avric went to go retrieve Hiccup's prosthetic from wherever it had been locked away, as Hiccup tried to convince Toothless to remain outside the pen where this new dragon dwelled. The dragon wasn't taking the idea well. He'd already snarled loudly enough the other dragons in the arena had turned their heads to see, causing all of the humans to do the same. He finally settled when Hiccup told him he could wait just outside the doors, he would even leave it open so the dragon could enter if he thought Hiccup was in the slightest danger. The time passed quickly with Hiccup having his hands full with his upset dragon.

When Avric returned with his leg, Hiccup eagerly reached for it and quickly attached it. As he stood it almost felt weird being so balanced, not having to cling to something to stay upright. He took a few steps, testing the fit to make sure it wasn't too loose or going to shift. Toothless watched leaning down to sniff at it before pacing around Hiccup as if inspecting him to see if he believed the boy could withstand being near another dragon without him right next to him.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "So, do I pass muster?" He asked, hands on his hips.

Toothless reared back into his sitting position, which still put his head above Hiccup's. He tilted his head and snorted. "Glad you approve." Hiccup replied.

The group then moved off, heading towards the entrance to the pens at the end of the arena.

* * *

A/N: Another short one, but I hope you still enjoyed. Things really start happening next chapter.

Over 100 reviews! Thank you so much. I hope this story keeps entertaining you until the end.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 12

The two humans, accompanied by a dragon, walked down the corridor. It was dim, but now that the dragons were tame and allowing people within their pens, there had been an increase in traffic. Someone had installed sconces with torches to keep the space from being completely dark. They were spread apart though, leaving huge shadows.

Avric led the way down the passageway to the very end. There were doors there that were huge. The locks on it were equally impressive. There was a smaller, human sized, door as well as a hatch to send food through set into the enormous ones. Hiccup gave a low whistle.

Avric nodded towards the doors. "Impressive isn't it?"

"How big is this dragon?" Hiccup asked warily.

"Apparently it wasn't a youngling, but it was still growing when my Great Grandfather captured it. It had already been far bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare, so he wanted to be sure the pen would hold it. Gods only know why he didn't simply kill it. It wasn't so much making the pen as much as it was walling off the end. It's a huge cavern about half the size of the arena. I haven't seen it but I'm sure it's grown."

Hiccup nodded as he considered the information. Avric removed a key ring from his pocket, placing one of the keys in the lock of the small door. He opened it, gesturing Hiccup to enter. The young man walked through, looking around him. He heard Toothless make a quiet whine behind him. It was a huge chamber, there was an underground lake taking up at least half the space. Holes drilled through the rock like in Toothless' pen illuminated the space. Otherwise there was nothing. He took a few cautious steps forward. A faint splash made him look at the lake. There was a spot where ripples had formed. There was a pause.

Suddenly, a huge head burst through the water. It reared up on a long narrow neck. The head was wide and mostly smooth except for two horns that curled like ram's horns on the sides. Its teeth were large, serrated and terrifying. The dragon screamed at Hiccup, placing a huge claw on the shore beside the lake. As it heaved its bulk from the water Hiccup could see that it was about a third the size of the Queen Dragon, maybe a little smaller. It was built lighter though, slim, and while it was hard to put the word delicate to something as big as it was, compared to the last giant dragon Hiccup had seen, it was almost dainty. It was still a very respectable size. It's body was more serpentine than like a mobile side of a mountain like the Queen had been. It flared the wings it had unfolded from its sides. Its coloring seemed to be a deep, dark blue, inky looking on its back fading to a sky blue on its belly and underside of its wings. It had smooth, almost unnoticeable ridges down its back and partway down the now lashing tail.

Hiccup bolted to the side as the dragon released its flames. The blue-white fire hit the ground behind him, creating a slick rime of frost on the ground. He stared. Ice, it breathed flames of ice to kill. Fishlegs would be thrilled to know he thought randomly. The dragon released another blast of the icy fire as Hiccup dodged again, the fire hitting the water of the lake creating a small ice flow. He continued to move quickly, darting this way and that as the huge creature inhaled to create its blast of ice, doing his best to stay alive but not doing anything that would read as an attack to the large dragon. It screamed at him with every miss.

Finally the rampaging seemed to slow. Hiccup had noticed that tendency. If you could survive the initial display of temper the dragon almost always calmed down, at least a little. If you attacked them or otherwise provoked them, then they never reached the calm stage. He had theorized with Fishlegs that the rages were a display to show their power. Perhaps other dragons would flee if they saw the display of a stronger dragon, while the equally powerful or stronger ones would attack. It always seemed to confuse them when a small scale-less human didn't do either. It stalked towards Hiccup slowly, watching him. He noticed the dragon had webbing between its talons and its long tail had a fin running the length that took over where the ridges ended and went the rest of the way. This dragon seemed to be created to be equally comfortable in the air or water.

As the dragon stalked towards him, Hiccup went to meet it. He was careful not to stare directly at its eyes, not wanting to challenge it in any way. It was only now that the dragon had quieted to a low growl that he noticed Toothless' shrieks. The Night Fury's shoulders were too wide to fit through the small opened door. He clawed madly at the metal frame, wanting to be with his rider. Hiccup hoped Avric had moved away, as Toothless in this state could smack him with his wing or send him flying with a thwack from his tail into the stone walls of the corridor.

"Easy, Toothless," Hiccup called, not wavering in his attention to the huge beast in front of him. "Calm down, before you agitate it into a fury again. You don't want to see me turned into a solid block of ice, now do you?"

He heard the dragon slow his frantic clawing and hiss. Hiccup's mouth quirked in an odd smile. He had a thump of some sort coming from Toothless in the near future.

The giant dragon was completely clear of the water now. The dripping water didn't obscure the beautiful scales of it as it stepped into one of the patches of light. Faint patterns could be seen, like with some fish scales. The long tail lashed, hitting the side of the pen frequently creating a deep, pounding smack. Hiccup was sure his ears popped with every hit. He slowly reached out a hand towards the beast. It was near enough he felt its surprisingly hot breath for a dragon that flamed ice against his fingers.

As his hands touched the dragon's damp head he could swear he saw surprise in the dragon's eyes that there was no pain involved. Hiccup was pretty sure the larger kinds of dragons gained intelligence as they aged. He'd noticed the smaller ones among the breeds tended to act more like ignorant children. It had taken forever to train some of them to not flame inside of a house. Whereas the larger ones tended to observe everything, and picked up on rules quicker. The Terrible Terrors were brainless no matter how old they were. It was one of the reasons he was sure Toothless was far older than him. This dragon, with it's huge bulk was quite possibly the second oldest he'd ever seen. It turned its head to get a better look at him. Hiccup smiled at it and began to scratch at the chin, moving up along the jaw until he was beside its head. He rubbed beneath where the horns protected, talking to it continually. He assured it he meant no harm and only wanted to try to understand it. Whether it responded to the words or the tone, the dragon relaxed. Not quite to the point of lying down, but the huge tail stopped flicking so violently.

"I think it's okay," Hiccup called lowly to the doorway, not wanting to startle the dragon and have to start over.

He heard a hiss and a snarl followed by "Move back you damned stubborn beast! I'll open the large doors if you move your scaly hide out of the way!" There were faint scuffling noises followed by the thunks of locks that hadn't been moved in a long time being opened. This was followed by a screech as long shut doors were opened as well.

Toothless bounded through first, heading straight for Hiccup. The Night Fury immediately imposed himself between Hiccup and the other dragon, wrapping around the boy. He growled at the larger dragon, rubbing his head against Hiccup's midsection, his wings flaring out to block the view of Hiccup to the other dragon, doing everything but carving the runes for "MINE" in Hiccup's forehead with his claws. Fortunately the huge dragon was either not threatened by the smaller or not impressed with his actions as it didn't move away at all. It only lifted its head a bit to get a better look at the intruders, snorting softly. Toothless, seeing that the other wasn't going to challenge his claim, then turned his attention to Hiccup. Once he had assured himself that the teen wasn't hurt he reared back and smacked Hiccup across the head with one of his wings. Hiccup scowled at the dragon, rubbing his head. "See, I'm fine." He stated.

"What do you call this one?" Hiccup asked as Avric made his way, slower than Toothless, to where Hiccup stood surrounded by dragons.

"My Great grandfather called it a Doomfang." The Chief replied, seemingly impressed as he looked the now calm dragon over.

Hiccup nodded, facing the dragon again. It was and impressive name for an impressive dragon. Even if it had been smaller when it had been captured he was sure it had been the doom of a number of warriors in said undertaking.

"I had wanted to learn your ways of working with the beasts from your own hand. Since you will be starting from the very beginning with this one, do you mind training me as well?" Avric asked.

Hiccup's whole face lit up at this sign of acceptance from the Chief. His own father had dug his heels in, fine with being around the dragons, but refusing to learn to really work with them until he was almost the last Viking in the village not to have learned from his own son.

"Gladly, Chief Avric." He told the older man as the two dragons watched. The larger one curiously, the smaller mistrustfully.

A/N: I remember the Doomfang being freaking huge from the books (I think its eye was the size of a sled) and I think it had ice instead of fire. This isn't meant as a true to the book form of the dragon. I was as true to the books as the movie was. ; )


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 13

Hiccup wasn't sure if Avric was the quickest student he'd ever had or the Doomfang was one of the smartest dragons he'd ever worked with, but both were advancing tremendously. The chains had been removed from the top of the training arena to allow others Hiccup had been training to begin to fly. Most of the chains had been taken to be made into more useful items, but a few lengths were used in the Doomfang's harness. Said harness was placed right behind its head similar to a Hideous Zippleback. Leather straps of the size required to go around the immense neck of the dragon were too weak and ended up stretching until they were too loose or snapping. Leather wrapped chains were comfortable enough, while having the strength needed.

He stood next to Toothless as the others practiced flying. Toothless gave a low whine as he saw the others flit about in the air. Hiccup kept wanting to get to a forge so he could recreate his dragon's tail fin, honestly he'd rather fly home and he doubted that he'd ever be able to get Toothless on any ship ever again, but something had always come up. Someone with a question about dragon behavior, or another with some problem with how to harness their dragon. There was also the prohibition on the Night Fury leaving the arena, and Hiccup knew he'd never get out the door without Toothless, the dragon wouldn't allow him. However, with the way Avric had come to know his own dragon and could see that Toothless would probably be fine as long as he stayed with Hiccup, he was sure he could talk the Chief around on that little point.

Most of the dragons had left the arena now, and the warriors who'd been helping with the harnessing were beginning to leave. Hiccup saw the Chief heading towards him. He walked towards the man, Toothless following his tail lashing in the air. The dragon still didn't like Avric.

"Ah, Hiccup, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Avric said as he got within distance of the young man where he wouldn't have to yell.

"What about?" Hiccup asked. "Oh, and there was something I wanted to ask you as well." He added.

"Let's go to your quarters, I'd rather not have everyone's ears about." Avric replied as he gestured to the hallway leading to the pens. As Hiccup slept every night next to Toothless on his bedroll, most people had stopped calling it the dragon's pen and instead called it Hiccup's quarters. The three walked towards it, the two humans engaging in small talk. Hiccup was quite happy to talk to Avric, as the man seemed to be very interested in what Hiccup had seen of dragon behavior. Their conversations after Hiccup had worked with him and the Doomfang had become commonplace the past few days. Hiccup was mentioning how well flying practice was going and Avric responding with talk about how the Doomfang seemed to be becoming closer to him. Which was nice to Hiccup's mind. The Doomfang had been far too interested in Hiccup for Toothless' mind.

As they reached the pen, Hiccup spoke to the other man "Chief Avric, as things seem to be going so well here, I wondered if we could change the limits on where Toothless can go. I would like to be able to go to a forge, as I still need to make him a replacement tail fin for when we leave here."

"Your leaving, yes, that is something we need to talk about." Avric stated as Toothless preceded them into the pen, as he had taken to doing to get away from Avric quicker.

Hiccup turned to look at Avric, noticing a strange tone in the man's voice as he spoke. As he turned a fist came flying, smacking hard into his stomach. He folded over gasping as he heard the sound of the door to the pen, where Toothless was, swing swiftly shut. He looked up from his bent position at Avric, mouth gaping in confusion.

"Dirk, would you deal with this one?" Avric asked disinterestedly as he waved at where Hiccup was still trying to get his breath back. "I have matters I need to attend to."

"Gladly" Hiccup heard. He twisted his head, still trying to recover from the blow he'd received only to see Dirk step from where he'd secured the entrance to where Hiccup had been staying. The doors suddenly shook and he heard Toothless' scream of rage behind them.

One of Dirk's huge fists slammed into Hiccup's head, spinning him around. He staggered dizzily. Another punch was flew again into his middle, and if Hiccup hadn't been trying to get his breath back at all, he would've screamed. Bent over in pain he tried to scrabble back, away from the older man.

"You're a pathetic little worm, did you know that?" Dirk asked conversationally as he lashed a foot out at Hiccup's left knee. That leg having been more sensitive since he'd lost his shim and foot, crumpled beneath Hiccup. He finally screamed at the pain, echoed by one from Toothless behind the door. His leg, knocked loose by the first strike, fell off completely when Dirk kicked him in the kidneys.

"Why are you doing this?" Hiccup cried, confused and lost in the pain.

"Why?" Dirk asked. "You learned to control the dragons, the greatest threat the tribes have faced. The greatest possible weapon practically falls into your hands and what does your idiot tribe do?" he asked, rhetorically, every other word punctuated with a hit or kick. "They give up and become householders, fussing over the beasts."

Hiccup curled in on himself, raising his arms to try and protect his head as Dirk continued to kick at him. The rhythmic pounding of the doors by Toothless seemed to be mimicking the pounding of his aching body. He heard dual shrieks as the dragon screamed while his claws dragged against the metal.

"Our Chief isn't a weakling like yours," Dirk continued gleefully. "He can see how we can conquer the other tribes, have them pay tribute to us or suffer. Or maybe we'll just unite them, then no one can withstand us." A savage kick in the small of Hiccup's back followed this statement. The other man grinned savagely at the cowering boy. "We'll be able to even take on those fat lazy Romans to the south." He paused for a moment. "Of course we have to deal with the only tribe that has a chance of standing against us first. Stupid fools that they are spread about the islands looking for your worthless, traitorous hide." His smile twisted even more viciously as he gave one final slam of his foot into Hiccup's ribs.

Hiccup choked, the pain incredible. He fell unconscious listening to Dirk talk of how incredibly stupid, shortsighted, and foolish he'd been. He wished he could see his father one more time to beg forgiveness for his naiveté.

--x—

Astrid stood on the deck of her ship, stroking the leather of Hiccup's harness and flight gear. She'd refused to leave it on Berk, certain that she'd be the one to find the missing boy and dragon. There'd been a bit of a dust up between her and Stoick over who could take it with them. She had set off, one of the first ones out of the harbor.

As the days passed her heart sunk lower. It was as if Hiccup had vanished into thin air. She had taken items off of the foreign warriors who had been killed, carefully asking around at every port if any one there recognized the decorations. At the last port she'd met Snotlout's own ship and crew. He hadn't any information, nor, as he told her, did the twins or Fishlegs who he'd seen more recently than she.

She'd also gotten a lead at the last port, unfortunately after Snotlout had left so she hadn't been able to send word. One of the sailors who'd been on the docks, mending a net, had recognized the decorations as belonging to one of the southernmost tribes. A group who was more of a plague to the non-Viking people living south than being plagued by dragons.

She shook her head worriedly. They'd focused first on the northernmost tribes, the ones nearest to Berk. Those were the ones who had been arguing with Stoick that although Berk was no longer being raided by the dragons, they still were if not as frequently. They'd been demanding Hiccup's help in taming the beasts. The demands had been getting shriller, which had put Stoick's back up. Those tribes had been some of the fiercest skirmishes, yet none of the decorations had belonged to them.

She sighed, "Where are you Hiccup?" She whispered as she stroked the leather of the flying kit again. At least there were only three islands left to the south. She missed her Nadder, Prettywings (she'd punched out Tuffnut when he'd sniggered at the name and afterwards no one had said anything). On her back she could've flown off and investigated all three in a day. However, the ships that were sent out were built for speed, not cargo. It would've sunk with the weight of any of the larger dragons, even the smaller Night Fury might have swamped it. Not to mention no port would've given them free passage with a dragon onboard. She knew the reasons, but still she fretted at the delay.

* * *

A/N: Please don't kill me

It was only as I was typing this that I realized everything went to hell in the 13th chapter. Gee, symbolic much? And no I wasn't planning that.

I had originally intended to have Avric named Alvin the Treacherous, but I couldn't do it. Not out of some worry that it would make people assume this is a retelling of "How to be a Pirate", which it isn't, but rather because the name Alvin is irrevocably entwined in my head with annoyingly squeaky voices singing Christmas carols. I dare anybody to try and write a somewhat dramatic scene while listening to The Chipmunk's Christmas Album playing endlessly on loop in their skull.

I daaaare yoooou!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 14

"-Gon Master? Dragon Master? …Hiccup? Please wake up, please."

Hiccup swam into consciousness slowly. "Astrid? Wha? How did you find me?" he said muzzily, to the female voice. Funny but it didn't sound like Astrid.

"Astrid? Lucky girl," the last was said in a quiet mutter. "No, this is Hilde, one of the people who've been bringing your food."

Hiccup opened his blurry eyes to see the worried brown ones of one of the serving girls. Her hair was as unremarkable a brown as her eyes, though her face was pretty enough. She smiled in relief as he looked at her, confusing him. Weren't the Dornarans going to attack his home? He was sure he remembered that among all the other things Dirk had yelled at him. Why was she happy to see him alive?

She carefully wiped dried blood and fresh off of his face with a damp rag. "The last of the warriors left this morning. Every last one who wasn't too old to swing a sword." She looked at him apologetically. "We didn't dare track you down while they were still here." Another girl, this one blonde, arrived in the passageway carrying a basket filled with bandages.

"Why?" he croaked out. Hiccup tried to clear his throat, only to wind up coughing instead. His ribs ached with the movement.

"Not everyone is thrilled with Avric's plans." Hilde replied. Her face firmed, though she shared a glance that was clearly worried with the other girl. "I am the last surviving child of our former Chief. My brothers died in training 'accidents' when out on hunts. My father was so broken by it he supposedly lost heart and was cut down in his last raid." Her voice turned even more bitter. "No one noticed, or maybe pretended not to see that Avric or one of his close friends had been at each place where one of them fell. Oh, he claimed he did all that he could to save them, tragic happenings and all that, but I never believed it. I was just a child when Avric was elected Chief, so no one took any notice of me."

Hiccup looked at her appalled. No one in Berk would've ever accepted someone who was rumored to have killed the heir to the tribe. He'd been kind of glad for that tradition, since he was sure it'd been the reason none of the other boys had tripped him off a cliff when they were younger. Odin knew it had probably occurred to one of them, probably Snotlout. As the two of them had grown there hadn't been a real need for Snotlout to threaten Hiccup, since it was generally accepted that the stronger boy would get the position of Chief by the rest of the village. It had only been the last two years that the village had realized that Hiccup could be a good leader as well, if not in the same mold as his father.

Hilde continued, "a girl only has until she becomes a woman to decide if she wises to take the warriors path among our tribe. Even though I was a daughter and there was little if any chance of me being looked at as an heir to my father, the way Avric watched me, even then I had no doubt that I would've had an accident same as my brothers if I'd joined the training. So I took the path of a householder." She shrugged, as she unrolled a bandage to treat one of the cuts on his good leg. "It was a cowards way out, but by then Avric had gathered men around him. The meaner ones who'd always been on the outskirts of the tribe, younger ones he bribed with ideas of glory and loot. Some of the older warriors who had been beside my father looked askance at the council Avric was forming, but if any were too vocal then rumors would start. Nasty things about said people being against the tribe, traitors to the Chief. Or they wouldn't come back from a battle at all."

"But why me? Why the dragons? Why everything?" Hiccup burst out, angry that tears were forming.

"Power," she shrugged again. "Ever since he's been Chief we've been raiding the southern lands more frequently. Most of the warriors have been thrilled with the increased wealth, and our neighbors have been cautious with our obvious power. When Avric heard rumors that the dragons had been tamed he became obsessed with having that power tied to his."

"Why are you helping me?" Hiccup asked, pulling away from her attempts to bandage a cut on his arm mistrustfully.

"Because Avric is greedier than he is smart." She stated. "He believes the other tribes will be cowed by warriors on dragons. The tribes have faced both individually without fear, why would both cause the others to surrender? If anything it will cause them to unite against us rather than with us. But all the younger ones see is glory, and their elders see gold. I want to see him fail." She said fiercely. "His plans will kill all of us, and I don't want to see that." She paused. "Can you get up? It can't be comfortable sitting on this hard stone. Kirsten, grab his limb." She called to the blonde girl.

Once she'd brought it over Hiccup was able to reattach in and, with both girl's aid, get to his feet.

"Toothless," he said, turning to the shut doors. "Is he all right? Do you know?" he asked the two.

"No one's gone in there since we've found you." The blonde, Kirsten replied. She looked at the door rather frightened. "There was such a loud screaming coming from there, for so long. We wanted to open it, but were afraid of what it would do to us with you unconscious on the ground."

Hiccup shook off their supporting hands, staggering over to the door. He almost cried in relief to see that it had only been latched, not locked as he feared. He didn't want to waste the time looking for a key that had probably been taken with the warriors. He blessed the gods for making Dirk more interested in beating on him than seeing the Night Fury secured. He struggled with the latch, feeling as though each limb was made of lead, until smaller hands batted his out of the way.

"You go stand where you'll be the first thing the dragon sees," Hilde stated. "Maybe then all three of us will survive this."

Hiccup moved away from the door, half limping and weaving slightly as he did so, as Hilde disengaged the latch. She immediately gave a pained cry as the door burst open, the heavy metal smacking into her. Kirsten gave a small scream as Toothless leaped out snarling. His wings were half spread and all of his teeth were visible, his eyes were wide the green dominating with the pupils narrow. The Night Fury reared up, his wings beating in his rage. He truly looked liked the unholy offspring of Lightening and Death. His gaze swung back and forth and he spotted Hiccup's battered body. The dragon screamed, looking at Kirsten as she was the only other human in immediate view, as Hilde had been knocked against the wall behind the door. The girl's face was an almost ashy grey as she saw the furious dragon, the basket of bandages fell from her limp hands as she was unable to even scream in her terror.

"No! Toothless, they're trying to help!" Hiccup cried, before breaking into coughs and gasps. The last time he'd seen the dragon provoked into such a protective rage he'd almost killed Hiccup's father. And today Hiccup wasn't feeling strong enough to really turn the dragon from his fury. Toothless heard him though, maybe he was more worried about Hiccup than the girls (neither of whom had weapons), or in vengeance. What ever the reason the dragons simply glared at the terrified girl as Hiccup limped over to him, laying his arms over Toothless' shoulders and burying his face in the dragon's smooth and powerful neck.

"Please, they're not the ones who did this. They're trying to fix what others of their tribe have done."

The dragon relaxed slightly at Hiccup's touch, reassuring the boy. Toothless still kept a close watch on Kirsten, snarling a bit more as Hilde limped out from behind the door. He watched both suspiciously, his tail flicking angrily.

Hilde kept her hands out where the dragon could see them. "Let's move this to the main kitchens, shall we?"

"I'm not leaving Toothless." Hiccup stated grimly, watching both girls mistrustfully.

"Wouldn't expect you to," replied Hilde calmly, though her hands shook slightly. She glanced over at Kirsten who was still trembling hard and looked as though she was close to passing out. She sent the terrified girl a comforting glance. "Kirsten, why don't you take the supplies back and warn the others so we don't have too much of a panic when we arrive?"

Kirsten gathered the spilled bandages with haste. She kept one eye on Toothless at all times, before turning and walking away at a brisk pace that was closer to a run. Hilde moved, making sure to stay in view of the wary dragon at all times, being careful to move slowly and not trying to approach Hiccup at all. She then walked ahead of them to lead the way out of the pen area and across the arena. Hiccup gritted his teeth as he hobbled along next to Toothless. The dragon kept looking at him, an unhappy whine emerging from his throat. Toothless finally lost patience with Hiccup's pained, stumbling walk and simply ducked under him, lifting the boy to his back as he'd been doing before Hiccup had got his leg back. Hiccup's sore fingers scrabbled at the smooth scales, not feeling balanced with the pain his body was in. The group made it's way slowly across the arena and out the entrance.

* * *

A/N: For those worried, no Hilde will _NOT_ become any sort of romantic interest for Hiccup. Just an FYI.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 15

The kitchens weren't very busy. Then again Hiccup mused, with most of the warriors gone there probably wasn't much to the population except women, children, and elders. Without all of the young bachelors to feed most of the people left were probably simply using their private hearths in their homes. There were still enough women busy preparing salted fish, or making other preserves for the whole of the population to gasp at the boy and dragon's entrance. Toothless lowered his head, hissing, all patience for the outlanders gone. The basket of bandages was on one of the long tables, Kirsten long gone.

Hilde left him to find a seat at the tables, Toothless hovering protectively, while she went to gather more healing supplies. She also included some fish that hadn't been preserved yet and water for Toothless, and food and mead for Hiccup. Yet another of the serving girls helped her carry all the items. She had silver blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, with curves in all of the right places. She fluttered her eyes at Hiccup, despite Toothless' low growl. Hiccup decided she wasn't particularly intelligent if she wasn't paying attention to the seriously pissed dragon practically lying on top of him to keep others away. How on earth you could ignore Toothless when he was in a good mood, let alone a bad one was a good question.

"Urda, knock it off." Ordered Hilde. "Anyway he's taken and all you're doing is irritating him and the dragon. You do _see _the dragon don't you?" she asked with a false sweetness.

"Taken?" the girl, Urda asked. "And how would you know? Already try something?" She questioned looking at Hilde snidely.

"He's betrothed to a girl, Astrid, back home." Hilde replied. "She's far more accomplished than you'll ever be." She continued, sniping back.

Hiccup felt dazed. He still wasn't feeling up to dealing with anything around him, with the way his body ached. He was being helped by the same people who had beaten him, and now two girls were snapping at each other in front of him. He put a hand on Toothless, who could tell the two girls weren't happy with each other, if not why, and as tightly wound as the dragon was, he was close to attacking one or both of them. The punch drunk part of him also wanted to protest the betrothal part. He and Astrid were just at the point where they had an understanding. Later, yes, he would love to have a more formal attachment. His wandering thoughts also wanted to know where she'd heard so much about Astrid, when he looked at Urda's intent face and realized she'd made it up out of whole cloth in order to chase the other girl off. Urda's predatory face was similar to Toothless facing a pile of fish, which made him clamp his mouth shut on any protests he might've made.

"Predatory witch." Hilde muttered as Urda moved off, setting small jars containing salves for bruises and cuts down near Hiccup. "Sorry about that," she said apologetically. "She's like that with any man or boy."

"Ah, right." Hiccup managed, still dazed and somewhat confused, as he started on the food in front of him. Toothless had already snapped up several fish before the girls had had their little spat, and now turned back to the remainder. Hilde turned towards him and began working on the worst of the visible wounds. He watched the girl suspiciously.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked again, watching the Dornaran girl carefully. Toothless sensed his wariness and looked at the girl as well, a low rumbling beginning in his throat.

Hilde, put the scrap of cloth she'd been using to clean his wounds with down, her head lowering. "I'm loyal to my tribe." She jerked her head up to meet his eyes defiantly. "I am! I just…I just can't see how this is going to end well for us." She looked away again "If your tribe wins the battle then that will mean that most of my tribe will be dead, or sold into slavery. Those of us remaining here will likely have to leave for other tribes, if they'll take us, or die. If we win, there will eventually be a war from all of the other tribes towards us. Again flee or die." She fiddled with the end of a bandage. "I was hoping to ask you for leniency for my people if yours win."

"Leniency?" Hiccup exclaimed. "Your tribe kidnaps me, takes me all the way here, tricks me into teaching them to tame dragons by making me think that they'll be peaceful about it, then has me beaten and leaves to invade my home, and you want to ask for leniency?"

She winced at his outburst, curling in on herself. "I know I have no right, but, we follow our Chief. Would your people argue with your father if he ordered a war waged on another tribe?" Hilde picked up the bandages she'd been playing with and began to wrap them around some of the cuts on one of Hiccup's arms.

Hiccup couldn't argue with that. While he was sure that Stoick would never plan an invasion, if he had decided it was necessary then the tribe would've followed him. As Hilde worked the pain began to retreat, though that was due to the salves or the mead he'd been drinking, he wasn't certain. As his head cleared from the pain he began to fret. It had taken him several nights to create the parts for Toothless' harness, and he'd had everything he'd needed. While he could probably work straight through this time, not needing to hide what he was doing from Gobber or the other teens, it would still take at least a day probably two to check that everything worked before they could fly back to Berk. If Avric was going to wait for the ships to arrive with the dragons it would be at least five days until they reached Berk at the fastest. He remembered at least that many once he'd woken up on the ship. Toothless was the fastest dragon out there, and he was certain he'd never been on the dragon's back at his top speed. If Avric didn't wait for the ships, how long would it take them? His gut sank, the food he'd eaten lying heavily on his stomach. They could get there so much quicker. They could be there now, destroying his home.

Suddenly Urda ran back into the kitchen. "Ships! Ships in the harbor! I don't know the markings," she babbled.

Toothless' head jerked up, his nose flaring. He lifted his head and roared, causing a number of the already agitated women left in the room to scream. He turned, nudging and butting at Hiccup until he had gained his feet. As soon as Hiccup was up, Toothless ducked under him, lifting the boy to his shoulders. The dragon then turned, bounding out of the kitchen doors that had been left open by Urda to the Great Hall. The dragon's claws skidded across the smooth stone floor as he oriented himself at the door. Luckily the door wasn't barred as the dragon burst through it. He leaped and half glided half ran through the village, women and children fleeing in his path, Hiccup trying desperately trying to hold on.

Hiccup looked up ahead at the docks. His eyes widened as he recognized the markings on the sail. A lean body leaped over the side of the ship as it pulled alongside one of the empty piers. He recognized Astrid from the blonde hair and double-headed ax strapped across her back. Toothless let another roar loose at the sight of her. She was running towards him. Them. Him and Toothless. She was really here. Hiccup was stunned.

Astrid ran up, right next to Toothless who crooned at her, obviously happy to see someone he recognized. She reached up and grabbed Hiccup, dragging him off of the dragon's back. Hiccup flinched, expecting a powerful punch from the girl for worrying her, only to have her wrap her arms around him tightly, her face buried in his neck.

"Hiccup, oh thank Odin. Hiccup!" she whispered. She pulled away a bit and kissed the still unbalanced boy. Hiccup was still a bit shocked so it took him a moment to kiss her back, his arms coming up to wrap around her as well. When she finally pulled away Hiccup could see a few tears in her eyes.

"Astrid? Are you okay?" he asked.

She looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "You…You… you idiot!" she exploded. "We've all been worried sick about you!" she ranted, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "You disappeared. There wasn't any sign anywhere. Gods above know I looked!"

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder out of the corner of his eye to see how Toothless was reacting to his being man handled (or rather woman handled). The dragon was sitting, wings folded, his head tilted and ear flaps up. He obviously agreed with Astrid that Hiccup needed some sense shaken into him.

"Your father's been worried sick!" the girl continued. "And now I find you looking like this," she gave a gesture, taking in all of Hiccup's battered body. "And YOU! All you can ask is if I'm okay!" She threw her hands in the air. "Odin give me strength to deal with you. If you weren't in the condition I see now, I'd hit you so hard you'd feel it for weeks for the worry you've caused."

"Astrid, I'm sorry, I am." Hiccup said, looking at the still agitated girl. "But I need to find a forge here." Hiccup ran his hands through his hair distractedly. "I made a mistake. I need to make a new harness for Toothless and head to Berk. The warriors from here are on their way there." He paced, or rather limped, back and forth as he spoke.

"A forge? Harness… Wait! Hiccup!" she grabbed the boy as he turned to head back towards the almost deserted village. "I have your flying kit on my ship. I knew I'd be the one to find you." She smiled, sharp and fierce. "Wait here, I'll run and get it." She lifted a hand, caressing his face as she looked at him, gentle in a way she rarely was. It was that moment Hiccup realized that she'd been terrified. Terror of never finding him warring with the terror of only being able to bring a body back to his father. She turned and headed back to the ship.

"So that'd be Astrid I see," Hiccup heard Hilde say from behind him, as Toothless growled a warning at the Dornar girl. "Nope, Urda never had a chance." She said wryly as she shook her head. She looked at Hiccup. "Please keep in mind what I asked you. I know I have no right, but as the former Chief's daughter caring for her tribe, please just think on it." She then turned and left.

Astrid ran back carrying the kit, the red of the fin bright against her. They moved off of the docks onto firmer ground to harness Toothless. The dragon held still, his eyes firmly on the sky above. Hiccup climbed aboard, wincing as bruises let themselves be known. He fastened the safety harness to the saddle, as he felt Astrid clamber up behind him.

"Astrid?" he began as he twisted around.

"If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, you haven't been paying attention." She said shortly as she fastened her own safety harness to his. "Anyway, I told the captain to head out, back to Berk, already when I got your gear, and left my ax there to stay light.

Hiccup nodded at the information. He doubted the captain would get there before the battle started, but knowing there were at least some reinforcements coming would help.

"Alright buddy," he said patting the dragon's neck. "Let's get back to Berk, quickly."

Toothless launched himself into the air, wings pumping strongly as if he hadn't been grounded for the past weeks.

* * *

A/N: With this chapter I've beaten two limits. It's longer than 2K words and the whole story is longer than 20K. I never imagined that I'd reach that huge a number of words. I thought it was an insane number when I'd read Bigbang fics on LJ. I thought there was no way on this green earth I'd ever write that much for a story. Okay, so my chapters aren't very long to my mind, but at least there's lots of them! That counts for something, right? Thanks to my reviewers for keeping up with me on this story!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 16

Hiccup knew Night Furies were the fastest dragon breeds out there, to go with the most agile. He knew this, yet he'd never experienced Toothless at full speed. The pale imitations he'd been through before barely prepared him for this. He was hunched over the dragon's neck. His eyes were closed into slits to block the vicious wind that tore at him. He was helping Toothless fly more from the instinct he'd learned from all their earlier flights than from any visual cues. Astrid was crouched as well, over his back her eyes completely shut. They were up incredibly high in the air, and it was also amazingly cold.

Suddenly Hiccup saw through his watering eyes a large group of specks far below them. From the way some darted about, he recognized them as dragons out flying. There were a large number of specks with faint trails behind them on the ocean he assumed were the ships. He was immediately glad Toothless had taken them so high. It they'd been spotted at best it would've caused a chase, at worse a fight. While Toothless was quick and agile, sheer numbers could probably take him down, and right now the important thing was to reach Berk and warn them. He was slightly relieved that Avric was keeping his forces together, rather than sending the quicker dragons ahead.

The sun was setting as they saw Berk, it had been late morning, almost afternoon, when they'd left. If Hiccup hadn't been so stiff and sore from the flight he would have shaken his head in amazement at the speed the dragon had flown. Toothless seemed to redouble his efforts, his wings straining to reach the island. He descended, screaming his peculiar and unmistakable cry as he did so, alerting everyone in the village. People came running out from the houses to see the Night Fury land. Hiccup looked around worriedly as they came in for a landing. Astrid hadn't been kidding. There were almost as few people here as there had been on Dornar.

Toothless back-winged, landing neatly in the square near both the trough and food bowl that had been built for the dragons. Hiccup and Astrid hurriedly slid off, certain the Night Fury had to be tired, if not exhausted, by the flight. The dragon immediately headed for the trough, gulping the cool water down. He snarled at a few Terrors who poked curious snouts at him. Hiccup turned to go bring several fish closer to the tired dragon only to run directly into Astrid.

"You are going to bed." She ordered, shoving him back. Behind her several villagers came up carrying fish for Toothless. The dragon turned from the water to snatch the first fish out of the hands of the nearest villager and gulp it down.

"Astrid, be reasonable." Hiccup began. "There's so much that needs to be started. I have to tell-"

"I can get the basic defenses started." She retorted. "Probably better than you. What you need is sleep to heal. The last thing we need is you falling off of Toothless because of injuries and exhaustion."

He continued to protest even as he was herded back towards his home. Once Toothless had finished his meal the dragon joined her in forcing Hiccup to the house. Astrid ran ahead to open the door.

"You. Sleep. Now." She said pointing inside.

"This is my fault. All of it. I need to be there," he waved at the village, which was already beginning to move quickly, the urgent way the two of them had arrived causing them to automatically begin preparations for any trouble that was heading their way. "Helping. Trying to make amends."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "We're going to need you awake and alert. You're the only person we have who has any idea of what's coming." She began to tick things off her fingers. "Warrior numbers, dragon numbers, types of dragon and so on." She glared at him. "Which you won't be able to recall if you're so muzzy headed you fall face first into the dirt."

Seeing Astrid on one side and Toothless on the other, Hiccup gave up. It wasn't like he had a choice. And the way the dragon was eyeing him he wasn't sure Toothless wouldn't simply grab part of his clothes in his teeth and drag Hiccup where he wanted him. Well, by the clothing if he was lucky. The dragon sometimes had an annoying way of herding him when he believed his human wasn't listening to what he wanted. Hiccup gave up and walked into the room, followed by a bounding Night Fury. Toothless scrabbled around, leaping up into the rafters and sticking his snout into everything. He then turned to look at the boy as he settled. His expression said "Here. This is where we belong."

Hiccup crawled into his bed, twisting as he lay to reach down and remove his leg. He hated to admit it, but Astrid was right. It had only been a day maybe two since his beating, he wasn't sure which since Hilde had only said they waited for the warriors to leave, not a solid time. Spending any time lying broken and bleeding on a stone floor would leave even the most stoic Viking warrior wincing as they worked out their limbs. Follow that with a long and fierce flight and almost all of them wouldn't be at their best. He still didn't feel better about being sent to bed like a cranky child.

He was asleep shortly after his head hit the pillow. He didn't even notice Toothless curling himself around the bed frame.

* * *

Hiccup woke up. He was slightly put out that Astrid had been right, but he did feel better. More like he'd been worked over with a log, less like he'd been caught at the bottom of a rock fall. He shifted on the bed slightly. Suddenly Toothless' head popped up from where it had been resting on the floor beside the bed. Hiccup observed how the dragon had curled himself completely around the bed. There was no way short of a flying leap that wouldn't have him tripping over or bumping the dragon as he tried to get up. As deeply as Toothless could sleep (he could completely ignore Stoick's snoring for example), any touch to the dragon would have him instantly awake. Toothless cocked his head as he watched Hiccup in his bed. He gave a quiet chirping growl and got up, moving away from the bed as he stretched.

"Apparently I meet your standards for resting, huh bud?" Hiccup stated dryly. He mimicked the dragon as he stretched, he then attached his leg and got up. He scratched at his head as he made his way to the door, Toothless following. He paused at the door looking at the dragon.

"How can any of them want me anymore?" He asked him. "Not only did I help people train dragons, against my father's specific orders, but now they're coming here. It's going to mean war." He finished looking at the floor.

Toothless leaned into him, showing Hiccup support. The dragon then glanced at the walls. Hiccup followed his gaze. All Viking dwellings had the family's weapons and shield prominently displayed to show their proud history. One of the concessions Stoick had made in regards to Toothless had been to pack away the actual weapons, leaving only the shields on the walls. His father had carefully wrapped each weapon and stored them away in a chest he kept precious items in. It also contained the dress his wife had worn when they had married and several other mementos, a number of which were from Hiccup's childhood. Hiccup looked at the shields. While a number had tooth or claw marks from the depredations of dragons, others showed obvious signs of ax or sword. Hiccup's eyes took in those obvious signs of human attacks in their history. While he had precipitated this attack, another probably would've happened eventually. They were Vikings, fighting was what they did.

Hiccup threw one arm across the dragon's neck and reached for the door with the other.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 17

"Hey Hiccup! Wow, man you look like you've been dragged backwards through Hel's gate. Twice." He was greeted by the completely lacking in tact Snotlout. "So, like, when you screw up you really go all out. I mean, an inter-tribal war? There hasn't been one of those for generations!" He sounded enthusiastic.

Hiccup winced at the reminder. "So, Snotlout, I don't remember seeing you when I arrived yesterday. When did you get here?"

"Nah, I wasn't. Astrid and her Nadder started flying and looking for the rest of our ships. She found the twins and brought them back while you were sleeping. They then got on their Zippleback and started quartering the other direction than Astrid had gone and found me. 'Cause you know I'll be the one to pound the most attackers down." He finished looking pleased with the idea. "I think Astrid's the one who found Fishlegs." He added disinterestedly, before brightening. "No biggie, we'll leave those bastards crying for their mothers in no time."

With them facing warriors on dragons it made sense to bring back their training group together. The six of them had a far closer bond to their dragons than most of the Vikings of Berk. If there was one thing Hiccup had learned in the fight against the Queen dragon, it was better to fight smarter, not harder. When both dragon and rider trusted the other they could be far more devastating than when the human was simply clinging to the back of the dragon. He also wasn't sure how the dragons with the Dornar forces would take to being forced to attack other dragons. The Berk dragons would be defending their home, they would have reason to fight. The battle could be down to just the forces from the boats if the dragons refused to attack. And it was never a good idea to try and force something that could simply decide to dump you off its back a hundred feet in the air, or simply snap you in half with its teeth.

Now that Hiccup thought about it, it made sense for Avric to hold the dragons back with the ships. In case anything went wrong with them attacking, he'd still have the forces on hand to compensate. If he sent the dragons ahead and they refused to attack or were repulsed by Berk's defenders, the island would on alert. Hiccup assumed that Avric thought he was still on Dornar, possibly dead, at best trying desperately to jury-rig a fin and harness for Toothless, not here on Berk giving them time to prepare. Heck, before he'd been on that incredibly fast flight on Toothless' back he hadn't been sure they would beat the Dornar forces here.

"Hiccup! Aw man, this is going to be awesome." This was said by Tuffnut as he came near. "I am so psyched about this! There hasn't been a proper tribal war in way too long." He gestured to his face, where there was a healing gash across one cheek. "Already got a scar from the last attack. Chicks dig scars."

"You got that by pulling a Hiccup and tripping as you chased an attacker, bashing it open on a stone, idiot." His sister Ruffnut replied from behind him.

"You don't know that!" Her brother spun to confront her.

"Uh, yeah moron, I do. I was there." She snapped back.

Seeing the twins were going to have another one of their "disagreements", Hiccup tried to head it off. "Hey, guys, where's Fishlegs?"

"Him? I think he went out to warn the farthest ships." Ruffnut replied.

"Yeah, we'd gotten to the nearest ones, the ones who could make it back before things go down. I think he's looking for your dad." Tuffnut added. "He was one of the first out the harbor, nobody's seen their ship for a while now. I think he went in a different direction from Astrid, but he's probably as far out as she was.

Hiccup's stomach dropped at the idea of seeing his father again. Part of him wanted the man here, taking charge, leading the village as he was so suited to doing. The other part wanted him far away, not wanting to see the anger and disgust Hiccup's traitorous actions had caused.

Hiccup looked over the village. Obviously Astrid and the others had been busy. There were more warriors than there'd been. A number of them were dismantling the ships, carting them up from the harbor. Snotlout saw Hiccup looking down and grinned.

"Yeah, they're taking the ships out. Me'n Fireworm are gonna torch the docks afterwards. Take out the causeway and everything. That'll make it harder for them to get a foothold here." He sounded smug. While his Monstrous Nightmare didn't have the intense fire Toothless had, it was more than enough to take out the wooden structures. "We've been telling the incoming ships to beach themselves in coves. Then their crew sets to making palisades of spikes facing the ocean, denying a landing spot."

Ruffnut grimaced and stretched. "I've been carrying supplies from the barns into the Great Hall for storage. The sheep herds have been moved to the upper pastures. Hopefully our dragons will keep wild ones from eating them, rather than just eating the sheep themelves." She shrugged casually. "Here's hoping."

"So, where's Astrid?" Hiccup asked, wondering if she was avoiding him..

"Ah, we've all been taking turns on scouting runs." Tuffnut said with a dismissive wave of his hands. "She's going to be mad she missed out on seeing you get up. I swear she's been hovering over you since you fell asleep."

"Well, she was the only one he," Snotlout jerked his head in Toothless' direction, "would let inside the building to check on you."

There was a loud squawk above them. Hiccup saw Astrid on her Nadder, circling to descend. He and the rest of the group went to meet her. She slid down from her harness off the dragon, swearing.

"Got too close." She stated as the others got within earshot. "They saw us. Didn't pursue, maybe they thought Prettyscale was a wild dragon since there are more up north here than they'd be used to, but I wouldn't assume anything. I'd guess we have a day, at most two before they get here.

Hiccup considered the two forces. Dornar had about as many warriors as Berk did total. Which meant at the moment they were badly outnumbered. With a number of their ships still unaccounted for, things were not looking good. Also they had the dragons, but nobody could be sure if they would fight or simply leave. Some had their riders back so might fight but had the same chances or weakness as the Dornarans, but some who's riders were still gone wouldn't accept any other person. They were a wild card. Others, who liked just about anybody and would accept any rider, might not listen as well as another dragon who had bonded to a rider. And the Berk forces didn't dare put all of their fighters on dragons as no matter how they fought there would be landings, and no one wanted to leave the village completely undefended.

The next hours seemed to either drag, seemingly lasting forever, or speed by so fast you weren't sure where that time had gone. Hiccup split his time in the forge, repairing the weapons that had fallen by the wayside as they had been busy making harnesses, or answering questions about the attackers. How many men ("Um, I'd say equal numbers to us."), how many dragons (No more than forty Gronkles, maybe two dozen Deadly Nadders, but only five Monstrous Nightmares. I know because I had to work with each of those personally."), how many ships (About as many as my father sent out to the nest for the final battle, maybe more."), and so on. Sometimes repeating himself multiple times over the clanging of his hammer in the forge as the most senior warriors left in the village kept asking for more and more details, teasing any little bit of information from Hiccup's recollection. As Gobber was still out on a ship with Stoick with is father it fell to Hiccup to do everything that was needed in the forge as well. Toothless stayed with him, a protective presence. Whenever one of the warriors would get too curt or harassing to the boy, Toothless would seem to ooze out of a shadow to growl at them, his head ducked low and threateningly. He was also useful for creating a hot fire when Hiccup needed it, saving him from spending so much time on the bellows.

Snotlout and his Nightmare incinerated the docks and causeway. Coves around the island were quickly made defensive and every villager with a dragon flew, keeping watch to make sure no advance parties landed. Supplies were hoarded in the Great Hall for safekeeping. Everyone kept weapons close to hand.

As night fell, the villagers of Berk waited for their attackers.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 18

The day dawned, no attacks in the night. Hiccup and Toothless were in the air as soon as the sun cleared the horizon, looking for the oncoming fleet. Astrid had rousted him out of the forge several hours after sundown and had again chased him back to his house for some rest. It so wasn't fair having Toothless side with her. As it was this morning, Toothless seemed to be ecstatic to be in the air, looping and diving. Hiccup grinned, even with the threat in the air it was nice to enjoy this time together. They spun and climbed in the clear air, enjoying this small bit of peace.

Suddenly the dragon stopped in his aerial acrobatics his wings beating steadily to lift them up in a climb. Hiccup twisted to look in the direction they'd been heading. He could see faint specks in the air that would be dragons and assumed Toothless had too. Toothless went into a shallow dive, converting the altitude he'd just gained into speed, shooting across the oceans. He back-winged as they arrived above the village, hovering above it. Toothless released a scream, far more noticeable than any alarm claxon as Hiccup yelled "They're coming!"

Women who weren't warriors gathered children too young to fight to take to the Great Hall. As Toothless and Hiccup left again he could see some of the tribal elders leaving their homes. Most were armed. He was horrified, as old as most of them were they would be cut down immediately if they faced a warrior in their prime. As his dragon hovered, Astrid on her Nadder came to hover beside him.

"The elders!" he yelled at her. "I thought they were going to the Great Hall with the women and children!"

"And miss out on their last chance to reach Vahalla?" she yelled back. "Are you insane?"

Hiccup winced at the reminder. There had been a ceremony for those who had died at the battle of the Queen Dragon. He'd attended next to his father, he'd felt guilty then. It was because of him his father had ordered everyone out on the ships and had been able to find the nest. While most had watched the pyres, feeling proud for their fallen comrades, all Hiccup had felt was grief. Now it was his fault for training others to ride dragons and caused his father to send ships looking for him out of worry. The deaths of any of their people would lay twice as heavy on his shoulders now. The dragons of Berk, with their riders, took to the air heading out to meet the invaders. Toothless and Hiccup flew among them.

Now he was able to see the Doomfang. It was down in the water, towards the back of the fleet. It swam, pulling a huge barge. As he watched from his vantage point he saw Nadders and Gronkles take to the air off of it. Obviously they had used it as a mobile resting point for their dragons, keeping them from flying off to land elsewhere for a rest, keeping everybody together.

Toothless began to surge upwards as well, height was the advantage to dragons. It had been an extreme risk when they had tricked the Queen into diving. It had only worked due to the clouds and fog that had caused her to lose track of how close the ground was. On a clear day like today it was best to be above your target. A higher dragon could dive or attack the wings of one below them, harrying them from a position that was difficult to evade from.

Hiccup and Toothless knew their job. Raking attacks on the ships, the Night Fury's breath an accurately devastating attack, and his speed an asset to avoid defensive attacks against them. The rest of the Berk dragon riders would focus on the invader's dragons, giving them cover as Toothless went low on dives.

This was a different fight from the last Hiccup had fought. The Queen had been a threat not just to his father and the warriors who followed him, but to the dragons as well. Both groups needed her gone in order to live. He'd always been excused from the raids and trading runs his tribe had done. Initially because he was more of a liability onboard a boat than an asset, later it had been that Toothless protested being separated from his rider so loudly and dramatically Hiccup had preferred to stay behind. Anyway most of the people on Berk were happy to see him stay as all of the dragons doted on him making him the go-to person if anyone had difficulties with a dragon, not to mention he had surpassed Gobber in creating innovative saddles and harnesses for each species. He honestly had been too busy to leave the island. But, now? Now he was facing humans. He knew they would fight, quite likely to the death for their leader's orders, even as those on Berk would follow Stoick's. Worse he'd be fighting dragons, those he'd trained, had patted, and cared for, at least as much as Toothless would allow. Dragons who had just learned to trust humans, who had just learned to be affectionate to their riders. The Doomfang was following the orders of a man that saw the glorious creature as nothing more than a weapon. And he, Hiccup, had trained that dragon, turning its affection for him to trust of Avric.

The two flew high, the ships mere specks below them. It was close to the height the dragon had reached in his almost insane race home. "Ready buddy?" Hiccup asked, patting Toothless against the side of his neck. He felt a rumble beneath him as he crouched down, flattening himself against the dragon. He smiled grimly. The Dornarans had seen the two of them as cripples, useless and harmless. Easily controlled. Well, now they'd see what the two of them together could do. He stroked his fingers against Toothless as he adjusted the pedals to send them into a dive.

Toothless almost completely folded his wings, bringing them tight to his body. The ships became bigger in front of them. Hiccup focused on Toothless to the exclusion of all else. The dragon would know when to act and to do anything before that time could catastrophically throw him off. Just as even he, with his trust in Toothless, was certain they were going to crash into the water, Toothless shifted. Hiccup moved with him as the shocking drop turned into incredible speed. The Night Fury screamed as he shot between rows of masts. His fire raked the ships as he banked and began to climb for a second go. Hiccup heard the screams of men at the attack which had lasted so few seconds, yet as he glanced back he saw at least fourteen fully loaded ships burning badly, others with minor fires from burning pieces thrown from the force of the Night Fury's attack.

Dragons came after the two of them, he heard their riders yells bellowing at the dragons to obey them. Hiccup smiled. Obviously not all of his lessons had sunk in. A dragon carried you because it chose to. A true rider flew _with _their dragon, adjusting themselves to better move with them, rather than _on_ their dragon. Hiccup and Toothless were who all of the Vikings on Berk tried to be on their own mounts, though not all had succeeded. The frustrated yells behind them turned to fear. He glanced behind them again. Snotlout's beautiful Nightmare had plunged between the two Nadders who had been pursuing them, causing the two dragons to veer off. Their rider's screams to turn, to obey, had the now irritated Nadders fighting them.

Toothless reached the apex of his climb, doing a wing-over to turn and dive again. Unlike his usual time of darkness when he'd been so devastating to Berk, his dark hide stood out clearly here. Yet his speed and agility seemed to make that a non-issue. The second pass the men on the ships had readied some small catapults and ballista, yet as Toothless sped through they all seemed to fall just behind him, nets tangling the rigging of other ships, or even sinking each other as one catapult launched a rock that would've damaged Toothless greatly if it had connected, only to land on the deck of one of their own ships.

Pulling out of the dive and again climbing, Hiccup could see they'd been even more destructive that strike as the ship's own defenses against the dragon were more damaging to themselves than them. Toothless still flew strongly, his wings cutting easily through the air.

This time it was a group of Gronkles with a Nightmare leading them that was on their tail. When Snotlout and his dragon tried to disrupt the pursuers, the other Nightmare broke off the chase of Toothless to go after Spiteflame. One of the two being chased must've done something to really irritate it as it set itself on fire, screaming at the now fleeing Spiteflame. Hiccup heard the screams of the Dornaran Viking as he cut himself loose and fell from the back of the Nightmare. The Gronkles were still gaining, if slowly, on Toothless as a climb wasn't nearly as fast as a dive. The twins on their Zippleback swung into attack. The Zippleback's twin heads seemed to confuse the Dornarans on the Gronkles. They would steer to avoid one head only to come within range of the other's teeth. Or blunder into another Gronkle. The fairly stupid dragons were generally good natured, but flying into each other had them snarling and eventually spiraling down as they were more interested in fighting their riders or each other than the still climbing Night Fury.

When Toothless reached the altitude they'd been diving from, Hiccup gave him a signal to hold. The dragon went into an even glide, beating his wings to hold position over the fight. Hiccup looked down trying to determine how much damage the Berk-led forces had done. Most of the invader's dragons were scattered, being chased by the more experienced Berklanders, or having balked at being forced to fight at all and having dumped the men or women riding them off entirely. About half the ships were damaged, both from the Night Fury's attack as much as their attempts to bring them down. A quarter of the remaining ships were tangled in each other, battering rams caught on others, or rigging and sails tangled as they had tried to dodge the dragon's attacks only to steer into their own people. Others were dealing with minor fires caused during their attacks. The remainder was heading towards Berk. Toothless growled at the ships, looking to dive them next. Hiccup then noticed the barge the Doomfang had been towing had been cut away and the huge creature was beginning the labored beating of its wings to leave the water. He quickly tugged at Toothless to point out the new danger.

Toothless shrieked at the sight of the Doomfang joining the fray and dived at it. Hiccup held on, his eyes narrowed. He knew Avric was on that dragon.

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A/N: I hope this came across as exciting, I tried hard to make it so. Next chapter in two days!

Also view logging is working again! Apparently it just switched off for 24 hours. Weird o.O Now I have one blank day. Totally ruins the neat zig-zag pattern I had going. Yes I am easily amused by things like that, I also like to dangle sparkly things in front of my face and say "Ooh shiny!"


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 19

Hiccup felt grief as they attacked the Doomfang. He'd worked closely with it and Avric. The dragon seemed almost as intelligent as Toothless, and was equally affectionate towards its rider. He knew that it would probably listen to Avric during a fight, which would make it difficult to trick. Toothless came down quickly on the larger dragon, focusing intently on it.

Toothless inhaled, readying his flame, only to swallow it with a strangled yelp as he side winged. Hiccup was jolted on his seat on the saddle, thankful for the safety straps. A blast of icy fire flew to the side of them, right where they'd been. The Doomfang was beating its wings heading straight for them now that it had gotten free of the water. It moved in the air rather gracefully for its size. Toothless circled the larger dragon, looking for an opening to fire. The Doomfang spun in midair, it's head snapping out. Toothless clamped his wings shut, dropping to avoid the teeth that almost caught him. He screamed at the dragon angrily as he beat his wings to regain lost height.

The Doomfang turned, diving on the Night Fury trying to climb. Toothless screeched when he saw the dragon gaining. Hiccup tugged at the Night Fury's harness, turning the dragon towards the open, uninhabited areas of the Berk island away from the village. Toothless was far faster than the larger at straight-out flying, his wings almost blurring as he flew, and so began to put a lead on the following Doomfang. By unspoken agreement Hiccup and Toothless slowed just enough to keep the larger dragon interested in them, rather than breaking off to rejoin the attack on the village. It seemed to work, every time Avric tried to turn it towards the village, Toothless would turn, zipping about the Doomfang's head before turning and flying away. This infuriated the larger dragon and it would completely disregard it's rider's yells to turn in order to give pursuit. The two of them led the Doomfang over the land they knew well, occasionally dipping under a rock arch or leading it through a narrow pass between two peaks. Toothless frequently would turn his head shrieking or snarling at the other dragon as they did a dangerous maneuver, seemingly calling insults at it. The Doomfang would then follow them, through whatever Toothless had just done, screaming back at the smaller dragon. At one point when Hiccup looked back he saw Avric clinging to his harness, his face white. Of course that was just after his dragon had just done a barrel roll though a pass and almost scraped him off on to the rocks.

Once during one of the attempts to attract it, when the Doomfang inhaled to breathe its fire, Toothless flipped around and fired a blast of his own at the other dragon's mouth. The icy fire and the incredibly hot pulse of fire didn't react the same way as usual. Instead of filling the Doomfang with fire, a huge cloud of mist was instantly created. Hiccup heard the Doomfang roar in its rage. Suddenly its head lunged forward out of the mist obscuring it, almost catching one of Toothless' wings.

"Okay buddy, let's not do that again." Hiccup said as he leaned over Toothless' neck, patting the dragon beneath him. The Night Fury snorted, seemingly irate that what had been so devastating to the Queen was completely ineffective, as they streaked away, Avric and the Doomfang in hot pursuit. Toothless seemed to take that as a challenge, his acrobatics becoming even more dramatic. At one point he skimmed so close to the ground Hiccup swore he could reach down and snatch at the grass they were passing. As the Doomfang closed in on them, they reached the cliff at the end of the meadow they were flying over. There was always a strong updraft right on the edge, which Toothless immediately angled his wings to take advantage of, Hiccup automatically moving the tailfin into position. The larger Doomfang, not knowing about the various air currents of the island, gave a squeal as its wings were wrenched back by the wind. It ended up falling, almost hitting the cliff several times before recovering and beginning to beat its wings to regain height to keep chasing after Toothless and Hiccup.

Hiccup knew that a chase would only work for so long. He really didn't want to be forced into killing it. He needed a way to trap the dragon. Somewhere that would hold it. They didn't exactly _have _a mountain cave they could block off… Suddenly an idea came to mind. It was a long shot, but there was one place that might serve. He tugged at the harness, trying to get Toothless' attention as he was screaming at the other dragon again. He gave the direction he wanted the two of them to go with nudges from his knees, pressure enough to indicate where Hiccup wanted to go. Since he didn't often give directions to Toothless the dragon had learned to listen when he did, and immediately turned to where the boy was indicating.

The two of them reached the twisting, tall pillars of rock, the place where Hiccup learned to steer the tailfin by the seat of his pants. A confusing tangle of narrow corridors that had intimidated the other Berk riders when they had seen it from dragon-back. The idea that Hiccup and Toothless had flown through there unharmed on their first real flight had actually impressed a number of the warriors. They could easily compare it in their minds to navigating a dangerous reef at the top speed a ship could accomplish, a damn dangerous thing for an experienced captain, let alone a raw sailor. The two had come back here frequently as it was a perfect run to test out how well a new improvement would hold up to hard use. They had learned to fly the twisting, turning maze quite well, as well as where there were dead ends to avoid or where it got too narrow to fly. The two dived towards it, leading the Doomfang in.

By this time the dragon was so infuriated nothing could've turned it from following Toothless into the narrow corridors of rock. Ordinarily a larger dragon might have balked at the idea of entering an area that could end up becoming too narrow to fly in, but the Doomfang was beyond any form of thought or planning, simply wanting to snatch the irritating Night Fury out of the sky. The Doomfang, while large, wasn't built like a mountain like the Queen and couldn't simply knock the pillars down. As it tried to fly faster after Hiccup and Toothless, they led it down narrower and narrower pathways. Finally it shrieked in frustration as they slipped down a channel it couldn't follow. The pillars came close together above the area the Doomfang was, almost touching. Hiccup and Toothless took an even smaller path to circle around, Toothless at times having to close his wings, leaping and clinging from pillar to pillar. Hiccup held tight to the harness terrified the jerky motions would cause his safety straps to come loose. The Doomfang thrashed, tossing its head, having landed in the shallow waters since it couldn't fly. It was twisting around trying to turn in the constricting space to get out, when Toothless hit two of the pillars right behind it, both of which had unusually narrow bases, each with a pulse of fire. The two collapsed, knocking a few others loose, creating a tangled barrier that would take a while even for a huge dragon to dig through.

Toothless settled on a nearby pillar as he and Hiccup watched to make sure the other dragon would be secure for a while. It was having quite the tantrum. Its ice fire, so deadly to living creatures, splashed harmlessly against the rock bars of its prison. The Doomfang clawed at the rock and roared. Avric, still clinging to the harness right behind the huge skull, was trying to control the dragon. It finally flung its head so violently it snapped the cord connecting Avric to the saddle. Avric was flung from his seat, landing in the water. Rather unfortunately to Hiccup's thinking. Hiccup craned his head, trying to see if the man had resurfaced, but the Doomfang's legs and tail clouded his view.

Toothless seemed eager to launch himself and finish the fight. The dragon had never liked Avric, and had been jealous when Hiccup had been working with the Doomfang. Hiccup caught his attention and jerked his head back towards the village. The human really didn't want to kill the huge dragon. It wasn't controlling the others into attacking, and it had tamed down as well as any other dragon he'd worked with before he and Toothless provoked it so. He hoped he could calm it down, work with it again. Plus he didn't want to leave the village for too long, as few people as they had every one counted. Reluctant about leaving a potential threat behind, Toothless obeyed. He took to the air, shooting back towards the village. Coming around the island, Hiccup saw smoke coming from the village.

Most of the Berk dragon riders had descended to the village itself, getting off of the beasts to fight hand to hand as most of the invading dragons had been scattered. A number of the invading force's dragons had apparently simply dumped their riders off and flew away, generally the newer ones to being near humans. Most of his training group was still in the air. He saw Astrid as one of the villagers still mounted, her and her Nadder taking on a group of Gronkles. It looked like the Gronkles had lost their riders and were more interested in escaping than in fighting. The girl was chasing them to make sure they didn't turn back towards the village to cause trouble.

Hiccup saw more ships and panicked for a moment, fearing Avric had held back some of his forces, before realizing he recognized the decorations on the sails. Several Berk ships must have arrived and it looked like the warriors onboard them had sailed in shortly after Hiccup and Toothless had left, attacking the ships they had damaged, finishing them off. Toothless couldn't go after those groups, as well as he could aim it was likely both side's ships would go up anyway. However, Hiccup noticed the ships that had split off and left the damaged ones had reached the harbor. Or what remained of it. They had hooks swung up and were attempting to climb the walls. Villagers were trying to cut the ropes, but there were enough warriors who had reached the top to make it difficult. Toothless saw them as well and dove, snapping off a fireball at one of the ships that still had a number of men waiting to climb up the cliff. Hiccup heard cries as men dove into the water. He smiled. While the men could swim, the water around Berk was barely tolerable during late summer. As it was only the very beginning of that short season and icebergs had still been seen occasionally shortly before Hiccup had been kidnapped, the water was still very, very cold. The men probably wouldn't freeze before they got out, but the cold would wear them down. A tired warrior was always better to face.

There were few dragons in the air. Most held Berk villagers rather than Dornarans. There were even a few dragons he recognized by their patterns as not being bonded to anyone in particular on Berk, but were living within the village regardless. Apparently having unrecognized dragons flying over had triggered some sort of territorialism. He saw a flock of Nadders chase the last Nightmare that held a Dornaran. The larger dragon was apparently out of fire as it was only snapping at the smaller dragons. While that tactic might have worked with fewer pursuers, with about six after him for every one that he almost caught, there were three more that actually hit him. Its rider was ineffectively waving a sword at the Nadders harassing his dragon. It almost looked like the Nadders were laughing at his useless posturing as the sword flailed around with them easily gliding away from it, before returning to give another nip or bit of flame at the other dragon.

Most of the fighting had moved into the village, where Toothless' attacks would be as dangerous to their people as the invaders. However the two changed their priorities from attacking to surveillance. The invaders couldn't set up ambush attacks on the villagers, as Hiccup and Toothless would dive-bomb them causing them to bolt from the cover they had taken only to be seen by the villagers, who then set upon them. The two of them worked well at this, and actually inspired the many Terrors living in the village to join in. The tiny dragons were so numerous that very quickly there wasn't anywhere an invader could hide that one of the little beasts couldn't find them. At one point a flock of them took to grabbing an invader and dropping them back in the harbor. It was somewhat funny to see a tiny, brightly colored mob of fluttering wings part to reveal a now tumbling warrior heading towards a very hard, completely uncontrolled dive into the water.

Hiccup and Toothless circled around as most of the invaders had been dealt with, looking to see if there was anywhere that needed their aid. The invaders that were still living were being herded by the Berk dragons and their riders as well as any of the dragons that had been forced to the ground. He saw Bloodwings as one of the captured dragons. The men were being kept separate from the dragons, with several Berk riders, including the former trainees Hiccup had been part of, keeping watch from above in case any tried to escape into the air.

Hiccup and Toothless went into a spiral to land.

* * *

A/N: I hope this meets any expectations you had in the fight. Don't worry it's not over yet...

I just want to thank all of my reviewers. I love getting the email alerts saying somebody else commented. Sorry if I don't respond to each of you.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 20

As Hiccup and Toothless landed he saw how avidly some of the prisoners watched the two of them. Most of them were the ones he recognized from his training classes. The raw envy as they looked at him was rather funny. While they had been careful around Toothless when he'd been beside Hiccup in the arena, none of them had really seemed to believe that the dragon _was_ a rare and elusive Night Fury. Seeing the ease and grace the two of them had displayed in the air, had them fiercely jealous. The ones who simply looked disgusted with the whole situation he didn't know. Hiccup looked over the crowd of disgruntled warriors and sighed. Now what did they do with them? He knew his father would simply have the rest executed, but his stomach twisted at the thought. He heard Hilde's voice, asking for leniency. He cursed her in his mind, for planting the idea in his head. He wasn't a killer, never had been, and having the idea of letting the men live now weighed heavily on his shoulders. Death on a battlefield was one thing, here in the village when the men were tied and chained was another.

"Good job up there!" one of his villagers told him, clapping a huge hand on his shoulder in congratulations. Hiccup tried to hide his wince at the smack. He managed a pained smile at the man who beamed back in reply, obviously pleased by the outcome of the battle.

Of course they were pleased, Hiccup thought to himself with exasperation. Ever since the "dragon problem" had been solved it had been fairly peaceful on the island. If there hadn't been the skirmishes they'd been fighting with other tribes out on the seas everybody would probably be going stir-crazy. As far as he could tell from a glance over the gathering villagers they hadn't lost too many people, if any, some were having wounds tended to so a hard fight without too many losses would've been more like a game than work to most of the people on Berk. Hel, they'd lost more people on one of the regular dragon raids, back when that had been their main problem.

He turned to look at the prisoners as he heard a disturbance. Several men were restraining another from attacking the Berk villagers standing guard. Which was pretty suicidal given that a number of the Berk dragons had gathered with their Vikings to help keep watch, and looked almost eager to snap at the captives. Hiccup recognized the one fighting as Dirk. He rolled his eyes, couldn't the Gods make anything easy in his life? That was one Dornaran he really wouldn't have minded finding dead outside the village. He noticed that Dirk seemed to spot him as well. The other man stilled for a moment before breaking into even more violent struggles to get to the younger man. Hiccup actually took a step back, without realizing Toothless had come up behind and was hovering protectively over him, at the almost insane hatred radiating off the man.

"You! You're supposed to be dead!" He screamed at Hiccup.

Hiccup straightened, despite the stiffness he was feeling, and looked at him coolly. Toothless' rumbling came from right behind him, as the dragon had reared up and his chest was right at Hiccup's back as he looked menacingly at the prisoners. Several of the men nearest them moved away. "Maybe you should check your work, rather than make assumptions. My master at the forge would've slapped me for such sloppy work." Hiccup said, feeling slightly giddy. Here he was battered and beaten, small and weak in comparison, and he still had helped defeat the other.

Hiccup then saw Astrid, who must've landed at some point, heading towards Dirk. She'd gotten an axe from somewhere, he wasn't sure if it was a spare she kept at home or a borrowed one, but she was swinging it with murder in her eyes as she looked at Dirk. He went quickly, occasionally hopping as his artificial leg wasn't quite up to a run, to intercept her. He caught her by the arm just as she reached the lines that were guarding the captives. She swung her face to his, meeting his eyes squarely.

"Don't stop me Hiccup," she warned. "If you try to tell me he's not the reason you're in the shape you are in, I will hit you first. Then I'll deal with him."

Hiccup held his hands up to ward her off, not that he had a chance if she decided to deal with him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Toothless looking rather enthusiastic at the idea of helping Astrid kill Dirk. He would've felt better if the Dornaran stopped breathing as well, but having his girlfriend, no matter how skilled she was at all warrior arts, kill an enemy for him was humiliating no matter how one looked at it. Even if he knew he would never raise the knife to do the deed himself.

"I'm just saying that as no one here," he looked around quickly, thinking fast as once Astrid started something he was certain others would join in and the captives would all end up corpses, and nodded towards the warriors who were from Berk and were heading towards the group they made with the captives, "is an Elder, or on my father's council. I don't want to face them and not have someone for them to question. How do we know they were working alone?" He asked as he met the eyes of his people, trying to stop a slaughter. Personally he could go quite a while before having to face his father for his own stupidity. He tried to judge how his words were going over with the far more seasoned warriors around him. There wasn't really any reason for them to listen to him. Yes he was his father's son, but most of them had watched him grow up and lived through most of his blunders, accidents, and experiments of varying lack of usefulness. Hopefully the way his status in the village had gone up would cause them to think about what he said, rather than just dismissing it out of hand. Ignoring Astrid, who was seething beside him, he continued, "We can keep them in the storage caves we use for timber and sail cloth. There's only one entrance to it and it's not such a huge one that we can't keep a guard on it."

While Astrid stood there glaring at him and simmering, the other warriors debated Hiccup's advice. Most were young men, somewhere between five to ten years older than Hiccup. They had enough experience that they were trusted to lead small expeditions, but didn't have strong positions of authority overall in the tribe. Given that none of them held a council position or had authority over any of the others, they all agreed that it made sense to keep the prisoners alive for questioning by their elders. Hiccup saw a number of the captives relax a fraction. No one wanted to die chained and imprisoned. Like Hiccup thought, it was one thing to go down fighting on a battlefield, another to die a prisoner. Several dragons and their Vikings, started to herd the humans away, leading them to imprisonment.

"This discussion isn't over." Astrid warned Hiccup as she went with the others to secure the prisoners. "Why don't you deal with your charges, Dragon Master?" She said with a jerk of her chin towards the dragons that the Dornarans had brought and the Berklanders had forced to land, before walking away.

Hiccup smiled at her, not relishing that future discussion, before turning to look at the group of dragons. They seemed confused more than anything. They'd been following their human's directions and now there were different humans and other dragons snarling at them if they tried to get to their humans. Fortunately Hiccup recognized most of them. While some of the young men he had trained had worked the most with them, he'd been sure to get near any that had entered the arena at any time, usually to help calm them, so most of the dragons should recognize him as well. He moved towards them, his large, overprotective, black shadow following him. He heard Toothless' grumbles and growls that he generally gave when he wasn't angry but wasn't very happy with what was going on either.

Hiccup headed towards Bloodwings, the Deadly Nadder that had been the first dragon he had encountered on Dornar and had worked with the most. It would probably remember him best, and since this group was acting like a flock, having one react calmly towards him would relax the others and make them more willing to allow him close. He held his hands out as he approached the Nadder, who regarded him suspiciously. A faint warning hiss came from it as it shifted its weight. As Hiccup came near the Nadder's head shot towards him. The dragon's teeth snapped shut about two feet above his head as Toothless screamed at it. The Night Fury tensed, readying his leap, when Hiccup threw a hand out in front of him. Such a gesture couldn't stop the dragon if he chose to ignore it, but Toothless settled himself, trusting that Hiccup knew what he was doing. He did, however, press close to Hiccup's side, his growling louder. The Nadder hissed back, its tail lashing dangerously.

"Easy, easy there… C'mon Bloodwings, you know me." Hiccup said coaxingly. "Remember all of the nice scratches and treats I've given you?" He made soothing nonsense sounds as he continued forward. The Nadder paced back and forth, looking towards the larger mass of dragons as though for support or to hide amongst the group. It lashed its tail, the spines raising along the length of it. As Hiccup came within reach of the dragon's claws it seemed to still, waiting to see what he would do. Hiccup reached up and patted the dragon's chest, as it was standing tall and hadn't lowered its head to his reach. The gentle touch caused Bloodwings to lower its head to regard the slight boy beside it. Cocking its head from side to side to get a good look at him it studied him. Its nostrils flared, inhaling sharply. The Nadder gave a sharp huff, shaking its head, still unsettled. Hiccup continued to talk quietly to the dragon, hiding any nervousness at its signs of anxiety. His calm seemed to seep through to the Nadder, causing it to relax, the spines withdrawing along its tail. It finally recognized that this was the same human who had introduced it to the world of scratches and affection and the dragon butted Hiccup in the chest with its head for more attention. The larger head of the Nadder staggered him for a moment, Toothless coming up from behind to steady him by leaning against his back. Seeing that this human was like the others who had been affectionate rather than the ones surrounding it who had aimed weapons at them the way they remembered in the past, most of the other dragons clustered around Hiccup. Toothless was _not_ happy with the way the Gronkles were pressed up against Hiccup, or how all of the Nadders wanted a scratch of their own. The one Monstrous Nightmare that had been forced to land was also trying to press its way through the throng.

Now that the ice had been broken, the Berk dwelling dragons and Vikings began to thread through the other dragons. Several Berk Nadders began to preen the newcomers, welcoming them. Relatively quickly the dragons had dispersed among the local ones, wanting pets from anyone who wanted to give them one, much to Hiccup's relief. While Toothless hadn't attacked while he'd been mobbed by the dragons, he'd been able to tell that if they hadn't backed off the Night Fury probably wouldn't have controlled himself much longer.

-xXx—

"So, you're just going to leave him to deal with all those dragons on his own?" One of the captives asked, eyeing Astrid. She narrowed her eyes, considering smacking him with the handle of her axe, only to see a look of surprise on the young man's face, rather than anything hostile.

"Maybe they'll eat him." Sneered another captive, the one who'd been so angry to see Hiccup.

Snotlout, who with his Nightmare, had accompanied the warriors to secure the prisoners, narrowed his eyes as well, before relaxing and giving a smirk at the man who looked back at him hatefully. "Hiccup? Nah, the dragons love him. He's the one who deals with any problems in the village. He can get a bunch of dragons settled and calm in the time it takes me to grab a sword." He slid his weapon from its scabbard quickly, seemingly casual as he swung it through the air, unnervingly close to the prisoners in their chains. He looked even more smug as a thought occurred to him. "Y'know, the question is if the dragons'll leave after he deals with 'em." He snickered. "If it wasn't for Toothless chasing them off, Hiccup would probably have half the village's dragons following him."

"Dumb beasts following the village idiot. What a surprise." The second speaker mocked.

"Dirk, just shut it already." The first replied irritably. "Just because none of the dragons would go near you without trying to tear a limb off doesn't mean all of us were that incompetent. If your hero, Avric the bloody Perfect in his own mind, hadn't been so impatient and rushed everything this plan probably would've worked. Our dragons could've worked as well with us as theirs did, anyway. And where is he anyway? He just had to be on the biggest dragon only to rush off and leave us to deal with things."

"Shut your mouth, Brynlief!" Dirk snarled, lunging at the other man. Astrid was thrilled to have a reason to shove the butt of her axe into the man's gut. He folded over wheezing, and she gave him another rap across his back with her axe handle, snapping, "Keep moving!"

She turned to the first speaker. "There's a reason we call Hiccup the Dragon Master, and not all of it has to do with his victory over the Queen. He actually approached a wounded dragon and not only lived, but befriended it. He has a way with the creatures that none of us have been able to duplicate. And when he was recovering we could've used it. He's in far less danger surrounded by dragons than being near any of you."

The man, who had seemed amused at Dirk getting smacked around, scowled at her words. He looked over his shoulder, though by now the group had moved far enough that the dragons were no longer in view. "Not all of us wanted the boy dead." He muttered.

The group of prisoners reached the storage caves. The villagers of Berk made sure the prisoners went in. Astrid couldn't resist a boot to the rear of the one called Dirk. The young man swung around, ready to start something, when Spiteflame stuck her head by the girl, a low growling noise coming from her throat. Snotlout gave her a scritch by her shoulder, where he was standing.

Astrid was trying to figure out how on earth they were going to keep the prisoners in without a dragon sitting right at the entrance, ready to flame them if they tried to escape, when several more villagers and their Gronkles arrived. The smaller, but more powerful, dragons were working together, under the direction of the villagers, to carry the doors that had been used to pen the dragons in Berk's training arena. She had wondered where they'd been kept, as they'd been removed shortly after the Vikings had returned to Berk after the Battle with the Queen. The Gronkles were listening to the people on the ground as they set the heavy doors up against the entrance. The dragons then settled to the ground and laying down, leaning up against the doors. It wasn't a great solution, but the doors were heavy and with a Gronkle as a doorstop, none of the Vikings inside would be able to budge the doors.

"Jerks." Snotlout said, looking at the now blocked passage, still pleased with himself. "Hey Astrid, did you see me? Me'n Fireworm took on this one Nightmare, man was it ticked. We, like, got it…"

"Hey, I'm going to go check on Hiccup." She said waving at him as she turned to leave, cutting off whatever over exaggerated exploit he was about to go into detail about. "It's been ten minutes, Odin only knows what he's gotten into by now." She smiled brightly at Snotlout and broke into a quick jog to get back to the village center.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 21

Astrid arrived back at the village to see Hiccup checking over Toothless' harness, obviously getting ready to fly again. The dragon himself was finishing off a pile of fish someone had brought over. He lifted his head, his tongue licking a few scales from around his mouth as he crooned to her. Astrid reached out and began to scratch the dragon's chin. She was one of three people Toothless would allow to touch him without Hiccup asking him to allow the other human near first. The other two being Hiccup himself (of course) and Stoick, though with the Chief it was more of him being able to shove the dragon out of his way in the house without losing limbs rather than giving pets. While the dragon wouldn't allow her to fly on him without Hiccup, she still felt honored he allowed her to touch.

"So, where do you think you're going?" Astrid asked as she looked past Toothless' head at the boy, who was crouched down to check over some mechanical part on the stirrup. She made sure the dragon got a good hard scratch along his jaw, a favorite place of his.

Hiccup's head jerked up, startled as he looked at her, wide eyed. "Astrid! Hi Astrid, uh… Hi. What are you doing here?" His hands, which had been resting on the stirrup, began to fiddle with it.

Astrid narrowed her eyes, and removed her axe from her back, hefting it slightly towards the boy. Hiccup was babbling, which meant he was trying to hide something. "I'm seeing what you are about to get up to." She swung her axe carefully, away from both Hiccup and Toothless as the dragon wouldn't take it well if she made direct threats on Hiccup's life, yet was able to get it to sing as it flew easily through the air. "See, I'm pretty sure the battle is over, so I'm rather curious why you see the need to suddenly be in the air again so soon. Start talking."

Hiccup looked around, not meeting her gaze. Toothless lifted his head from her hand to regard the boy. He snorted before shaking himself all over and laying down, curling his tail around. Hiccup scowled at the dragon who was obviously not planning on moving until Astrid was happy. The boy ran both of his hands through his hair before sighing and looking at the girl.

"Um… You remember that big dragon the Dornarans had?" He ventured.

"Of course, how could you miss it?" Astrid said, rolling her eyes. "I also saw how the two of you took it on, led it away, and got it to leave the village alone."

"Well, Toothless and I, we led it away. Avric, the, um, Chief of Dornar, was on it and I wanted to get him away from the fight so he couldn't lead the others." Hiccup began as Astrid nodded. Not having a Chief to over rule the others could lead to chaos on the battlefield. Getting rid of him made surprisingly good sense for Hiccup. "And we led them to the pillar maze, remember it? You and Prettyscale got mad at us when we lost you playing tag there? Uh, anyway, we led the Doomfang, the big dragon, in there and we trapped it. Well, Toothless did, and then I wanted to come back here to see how things were going, and now I want to see how the Doomfang is, y'know see if I can get it to calm down again." He finished looking at her.

"You didn't kill it." Astrid said flatly.

"Uh… Well no." Hiccup started.

"You didn't kill it. " Astrid asked again softly, but scarily.

"It's not evil, it wasn't controlling the other dragons or anything…" he trailed off again at Astrid's expression

"Hiccup, that thing was HUGE, it could destroy our village without trying, what were you thinking?" Astrid started to rant.

Hiccup flinched at the tone she used, before looking up at her. "I couldn't." he said solemnly. "It wasn't the dragon's fault it was attacking us any more than it was the fault of the smaller ones. They were just following the orders of the people _I_ encouraged them to trust. It was _my_ fault they were fighting, more than anything. The Doomfang seemed as intelligent as Toothless, and as affectionate." He patted Toothless' side and leaned against the dragon, who turned to look at him. "It's my fault it trusted Avric. I need to fix that." He looked at Astrid squarely, his shoulders straight the same way he'd looked the night he'd told her he would keep the secret of the nest from the village to protect Toothless.

Astrid wanted to bang her head against a rock. The stubbornness Hiccup inherited from Stoick always chose just the wrong time to rear its head. "You still don't look that good, you know. I'm not letting you get near a probably furious dragon without backup."

"But I need to do this!" Hiccup burst out. "I need to try-"

"I'm not saying you're not going, just that Prettyscale and I are going too." Astrid stated, crossing her arms and settling her feet. "Personally I'd rather the whole gang went, possibly a good chunk of the village as well, but I doubt you're willing to wait that long."

Hiccup relaxed at her statement. "Okay." He grinned at her. "Ready yet?" He asked as he stood up, his checking of the gear done. The dragon stood up, his ear flaps lifted in happiness. Those weeks spend locked away meant he was happy to fly as much as possible.

Astrid scowled at the pair, both obviously ready to fly. She walked over to Toothless' side and socked Hiccup in the arm.

"Ow. What was that for?" Hiccup glared at her. "And I thought you were going to wait for me to heal a bit before pounding on me." He added rubbing his arm.

"That was for stopping me from killing that little waste of space from Dornar." She replied. She then kissed him gently on the lips. "That's for coming back safe from battle. And please, that was a baby tap, quit whining." She walked towards where Prettyscale lay relaxing. "Well? Are we going? I thought you were in a hurry!" She called over her shoulder.

Hiccup smiled at her statement and shook his head. He turned to Toothless who was watching with interest. His smile turned into a grin as he looked at the dragon. "Well buddy? Ready to fly?" Toothless immediately went into a half crouch to make it easier for Hiccup to get into the harness. The boy swung his leg over and the two were air born seconds after his foot clicked into the pedal.

-xXx—

Hiccup was smiling at the wind in his face. Yes they were flying towards a huge, angry, ferocious dragon, but at the moment there was only the joy of flight. Toothless was obviously feeling happy as well, the short rest after the battle refreshing him, spinning and diving the way he did when playing. Astrid and Prettyscale followed more sedately. Nadders weren't meant for the complicated and fast maneuvers a Night Fury was capable of doing easily.

Without the crazy zigzagging across the island the two had done in order to distract the Doomfang, it didn't take long to reach the pillar maze. Hiccup and Toothless circled the misty area. He heard the Doomfang's roar of anger, so at least it was safe to assume it was still trapped. Toothless dove down, back-winging sharply to land on top of one of the pillars close to where they had trapped the other dragon, rather than threading the maze again. The Doomfang had obviously been busy during their absence, as most of the blockage had been cleared. Floating chunks of ice swirling around its feet showed that it had vented its rage for a bit before beginning to heft the rubble out of the way. Hiccup looked at the dragon as it tossed its head. Astrid and her Nadder settled on the pillar next to his. The Nadder hissed at the sight of the larger dragon, shifting restlessly as it obviously wanted to be gone. Toothless flicked his tail, growling at the Doomfang. The Doomfang suddenly looked up at the four of them. Toothless took off, just narrowly missing being hit by the freezing flames the Doomfang shot at them. Pretty scale took off as well, squawking at the larger dragon even thought the flames hadn't been aimed at her.

Apparently the sight of Hiccup and Toothless again infuriated the already agitated dragon as it shoved brutally at the remaining rubble that imprisoned it. The last of the blockage fell away, allowing it to bolt from its temporary prison. Hiccup tried to guide Toothless towards the cliffs. There was a thin bit of beach there where Hiccup thought they could land. The cliffs ringing it were so steep and treacherous that there were very few, if any, easy ways to get up them so no one had bothered to block this beach.

The Doomfang pursued Hiccup and Toothless, not bothering to take to the air as it navigated the pillars. Astrid and her Nadder kept above the fray, occasionally darting forward to distract the larger dragon when it seemed to get too close to the Night Fury. When the chase reached the beach the Doomfang reared up, fanning its wings. Then Hiccup ran into a bit of a problem, Toothless wasn't about to land near the dragon on the sand. As the boy tried to get him to listen the Night Fury simply smacked him with an ear flap. Finally after swooping about in arcs above the Doomfang, causing it to snap at them several times, the pair settled at the cliff edge. Toothless wasn't happy about the compromise, but all he did was grumble about it.

The Doomfang's head rose above the edge of the cliff. Its eyes narrowed at Hiccup and it cracked open its jaw and hissed. Hiccup could feel Toothless practically vibrating in tension beside him. The Doomfang suddenly jerked its head to the side, snapping at Astrid and Prettyscale who had gotten too close for its comfort.

"Astrid! Back off! You're only upsetting it!" Hiccup called loudly to her.

"I'm upsetting _it?_" Astrid screamed down at him. "Hiccup that thing could swallow you. _WITHOUT CHEWING!_"

"I got through to it once. I want to try again." Hiccup replied back as the Doomfang turned towards him. Hiccup walked towards the cliff edge, his hands held out to show he had no weapon. The Doomfang snarled at him, placing one claw on the edge as if it was preparing to climb up. Hiccup gestured at Toothless to stay where he was behind him, away from the dragon. He heard a loud hiss from behind him from his now seriously pissed dragon. The Doomfang in front of him was growling loudly, its eyes narrowed with intensity on the human in front of it, yet Hiccup didn't hear the tell tale signs of a dragon readying it's deadly breath. Though he didn't know if that was because it was out of fire or simply waiting until it was sure it wouldn't miss. He hoped it was because the dragon recognized him and didn't want to hurt him.

"Easy there, easy." He crooned to the seriously angry dragon. "I'm sorry, really I am. I didn't want to anger or hurt you at all. I'm sorry I encouraged you to trust Avric." He knew he was well within the distance the dragon needed in order to snap him up in its jaws. The fact that it hadn't was the best sign yet. He had been the first to touch this dragon with a kind hand, the first to give comforting scratched to it, the first to face it without attacking at all. The Doomfang shook its head, the movement rippling down its serpentine body. Its eyes had widened slightly and its claws were no longer deeply gouging the earth beneath them. Its snarl had quieted to a low growl.

Hiccup smiled at it, relaxing a little as he saw the dragon do the same. He crept up to the edge, waiting to see if the dragon would lower its head to the range of his hands.

"Now, now, I just want to apologize. See? Nothing in my hands." He continued in the same low crooning voice. "It was wrong of me to give your trust to Avric." The Doomfang cocked its enormous head as it regarded him. Hiccup waited patiently, even as Toothless was clawing the ground, wanting to grab the boy and get air-born, behind him. The Doomfang continued to study him for a long moment. Hiccup held his breath. The dragon could choose to attack or it could choose to leave. Nothing held it now, there were no barred doors, no chains. Its harness had even fallen off during its thrashing while it was trapped. It could go into the ocean and be far away from here without any difficulty.

It finally lowered its head, coming close to Hiccup. He placed his hands on the dragon's chin as it came within distance. The Doomfang seemed to give a sad sort of whine, deep and reverberating in its huge chest.

Hiccup patted it, murmuring to it. "You didn't deserve him. You deserve someone far better, someone who sees you as a friend not a weapon." The Doomfang relaxed under his pats and scratches, its head resting comfortably on the cliff edge, its body making itself comfortable on the sand below. Hiccup walked around its head to get to the other side and give it more attention.

As he passed a cluster of boulders resting near the edge, he was suddenly overcome by a sharp pain shooting through his side. He gasped and turned to see Avric pulling a blade free from his body. He heard Toothless and the Doomfang both scream as he began to fall.

* * *

A/N: Have a great day!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 22

Hiccup staggered trying to catch himself before he hit the ground or tumbled off of the cliff. He kept his hand pressed against the wound, feeling warm liquid running over his fingers. His head spun as he looked at Avric, and he tried to circle around the man to get to more secure ground.

The Doomfang had reared back, pushing away from the cliff. Its tail lashed creating a loud booming noise as it impacted against the nearest pillars. It hissed, a deep threatening sound, shaking its head. It seemed confused as to whom it should attack. Hiccup? The boy who had convinced it to allow a human near it? Avric? The man who had spent a great deal of time with it? It seemed caught in indecision. Toothless had no such reservations, but with Hiccup so close to both the cliff edge and Avric he couldn't use his fire. He circled the two humans looking for a way to separate them.

Avric leaped forward, slashing at Hiccup again. Hiccup stumbled back, falling to the ground. He rolled quickly, swearing as it put pressure on his wound, as Avric slammed the blade down where he'd been. The man wasn't armed with a decent sword, even a short sword, but the knife was much longer than any Hiccup ever carried now. Not that he had one on him at the moment. Not to mention the larger man had a far greater reach than him. He kicked sandy dirt into the man's face as he came close again and used the distraction to get to his feet, wheezing in pain.

"Apparently I'm surrounded by incompetents." Avric hissed. "Dirk was supposed to make sure you were dead." Behind him Toothless inhaled, preparing to fire. Avric must have heard this and ran towards where Hiccup was to end up right beside him, making the dragon lose his clear aim. He then flung a smaller blade he removed from within his shirt at the Night Fury, causing Toothless to huff a breath out as he ducked the missile, wasting the chance to flame. Toothless snarled at the lost chance, his wings spread to make him look far larger and imposing to the two humans.

"Avric, you've lost." Hiccup started, as he tried to weave away from the man. His feet slid as he came too close to the edge and the dirt crumbled. "You can't win this, your people are captured or dead. You have three dragons surrounding you." At this statement Astrid and Prettyscale darted in, the Nadder almost managing to grab Avric, when they had to break off due to the Doomfang snapping at them. The large dragon may have accepted Hiccup, but that didn't mean it would allow another into the fight. Prettyscale squawked at the Doomfang, veering off with Astrid's curses following them. "Okay, two at least." He stated. "There's no reason for attacking me!" Hiccup cried, dodging a kick aimed at his midsection. "You won't gain anything!"

"I could've beaten you. Your people, trying so hard to show the dragons weren't dangerous. Stupid." Avric sneered, his knife lashing out again at Hiccup. "Everybody knows they're dangerous. They can kill easier than any of us. Channeling that energy could've given you power over everyone." Hiccup was up against the rocks the man had emerged from. The boy saw Toothless, preparing to leap on Avric, when the man lunged at him, and the two went rolling along the ground. Hiccup kicked frantically at the larger man as they got closer to the edge, his hands desperately pushing at the one that Avric held a knife in. He dug his fingers into Avric's wrist, the man swore, releasing him rather than lose the knife. Hiccup took the opportunity to get to his feet.

"I took a gamble." Avric said with a vicious grin. "I've won every gamble I've taken so far, I've become a Chief, made my tribe one of the wealthiest of all the islands. I saw a chance to become even more powerful so I took it. Didn't know it would be that easy, you practically handed everything to me on a platter. If Dirk had done his job and made sure to finish you off, they would've had no idea we were coming."

Hiccup felt dizzy. His hand was soaked in his own blood, the beating he had received a few days previous still making him slower and the wound wasn't helping. He tried to stagger away from the man enough that Toothless would have a clear shot at him, but Avric knew the dragon would go for him and kept close to Hiccup moving too quickly. Hiccup heard Toothless shriek in frustration at Avric's movements as he saw Astrid and Prettyscale try to get close enough to help, only to be attacked by the Doomfang keeping them at bay. The large dragon was becoming agitated again, short blasts of icy fire lighting the sky and making Astrid nervous. At least her distraction kept the Doomfang busy, keeping it from making up its mind as to whom it would help and keeping it from going after Toothless. Its grip on the edge of the cliff tightened, causing chunks of the topsoil to break off, shortening the cliff.

"You've lost" Hiccup repeated. "Why are you still fighting?" He dodged another slash from Avric, slowly circling the man, trying to both irritate him and keep him from noticing he was being moved. "Killing me certainly won't change anything, all it will guarantee is that all of your people will die." His eyes met Toothless' beyond the man, still pacing. He twitched slightly to the side, hoping the dragon would pick up on the slight cue and that Avric wouldn't.

"You stupid, annoying brat. Why won't I give up?" Avric snarled. "Because I will not go back and grovel for my life. I am stronger than you, you little weakling. Look at you, all you do is dodge, no attacks what so ever. You're no Viking, anyone with any sense would've smothered you in your cradle."

Hiccup glanced up. Avric had his back to the rocks he'd emerged from, assuming it was a safe place to put his back to. He had forgotten he wasn't only facing Hiccup, but his dragon as well. A Very Bad Mistake. The quick look the boy had given had seen Toothless who had managed a leap on to the rocks, his wings folded as he crouched about to spring. The black dragon shifted his weight, eyes focused completely on the man in front of him. Hiccup drew himself up, holding his head high.

"I may not be a great Viking," he said, standing as straight as he could with the pain in his side, "But I'm an excellent Dragon Master." He finished with pride. He saw Avric's eyes widen in rage, his arm coming up with the knife as Toothless sprang. The Night Fury tackled him, his mouth going around the man from his right shoulder to the middle of his chest. Teeth sank into Avric viciously. The man screamed in agony. Hiccup heard the snaps and sickening cracks as Avric's chest was crushed. Toothless' momentum sent him tumbling dangerously close to the edge, bound to the man he clenched in his teeth, before he skidded to a halt, curled slightly on his side. He stood up, all four feet planted firmly on the ground. He lifted the dying man in his jaws shaking him the way a dog would a rat. There was a loud final snap and then silence. Toothless dropped the body, shaking his head and flicking his tongue as though the taste of the man offended him.

At hearing Avric's scream the Doomfang reared back, losing interest in the Deadly Nadder and its human flying around it, shoving its front legs against the cliff as it screamed back at the sight of its dead rider. The head swung back and forth between the cooling body and where Hiccup now crouched, his hands pressed to his side. Its nostrils flared at the smell of blood from both the humans. Hiccup raised one hand, even now trying to calm the dragon. He tried to talk and ended up coughing, still trying to get to the other dragon. Toothless came to his side, his back arched, hissing at the larger dragon, threatening it if it decided to go after his human. The Doomfang gave a final keen that seemed so full of despair and turned towards the water. There was a loud splash as it dove, its fins flicking to swiftly propel it far from the area.

With the Doomfang gone Astrid was able to get Prettyscale to land. She jumped from the dragon's back as soon as it got close enough, tumbling slightly before running to where Hiccup was now half folded over, panting slightly. Toothless had moved a bit away to hover over Avric's body, hissing at it and clawing to make sure the man was actually dead.

"Hiccup? Hiccup!" Astrid shouted as she reached out to grab at his shoulder, seeing him begin to slump forward. He looked up at her, the dizziness overwhelming, seeing Toothless come to hover over her shoulder as everything went dark.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this isn't longer. I'm not exactly thrilled with this chapter. Originally I had the next chapter as a second half to this one, but it took on a life of its own and didn't quite fit right with it afterwards. So I broke them up. I do however like how Avric dies, so I hope you do too.

Also: I'm above 200 comments! WOOT! I love you guys! (yes even those who sent me death threats for the last chapter, *hugs*)


	23. Chapter 23

Hiccup woke up slowly. Part of him was thinking about how he really needed to stop passing out right after a battle. He wasn't very a very manly Viking to start with, spending time unconscious after a major battle had to be costing him some dignity. Not to mention that the twins would probably start making smart remarks about it. He could almost hear the teasing from Ruffnut already. The rest of him them woke up and began telling him how much he _hurt_. His whole body was a map of aches and pains. His ribs hurt, his side hurt, he was sure even his missing leg hurt. He finally managed to open his eyes to see Astrid slumped, asleep, in a chair beside him. He could see the arch of Toothless' wings beyond the end of the bed. The dragon was practically pressed up against the foot of the bed.

He shifted on the bed, trying to become more comfortable. Whether it was the sound of that small movement or his pained gasp as he did it, Toothless' head shot up. The dragon gave a loud whirring noise of happiness, his eyes widening as he got up and came around to the side of the bed. That sound caused Astrid to jerk in the chair, her hand immediately going to a non-existent weapon as her eyes shot open.

"Bwuh, huh? What?" Her eyes cleared as she looked at Hiccup who was now sitting upright. "Hiccup!" She cried, leaving the chair to wrap her arms around the confused boy. She squeezed him almost to the point of pain. She then jerked back, balled her hand up and smacked him hard in the upper part of his left arm.

"Ow. What was that for? I'm injured you know." Hiccup retorted.

"Not badly, now." Astrid snapped. "It's spring. Again!"

Hiccup stared at her, lost. It had been the middle of the short summer season when the battle had occurred. Toothless gave a small whine and butted his head at Hiccup's lax hand on the bed. He absentmindedly began to scratch at the dragon's head until the Night Fury was practically purring, head resting next to him. "Spring?" he asked confusedly, he stared at her. It had been summer, how had…? Vague memories and dreamlike sequences floated through his head.

"Spring, as in after winter, if just barely. As in you've been out of it for months." Astrid was practically snarling. "The stab wound you had got the wound sickness, you almost died!" She waved her hands as though she had to do something with them or she would strangle him. Hiccup knew that when she was worried or upset her violent streak would come out to hide the other emotions. She seemed to feel that showing anything else would be too embarrassing. She continued, "the fevers from that were bad enough, but just as you beginning to recover from _that_, winter hit. You were so weak from fighting the wound sickness you caught another fever. At one point we had Toothless crouched over you, pinning you in the covers, because you kept trying to get out of bed claiming you needed to fight the invaders. DURING A BLIZZARD!" Her voice hit a register that was only about one note below a scream. Toothless gave a low rumble that set a counterpoint to her higher pitches.

Hiccup felt like the ground had shifted under his feet. He stared at her feeling unsettled, his hand on Toothless' head stilled. The dragon lifted his head, looking at the two humans who were staring at each other in silence. He gave a quiet moan and butted Hiccup in the shoulder. Hiccup turned towards his best friend and began to rub vigorously all around the Night Fury's chin and eye ridges as the dragon tilted his head to regard him with large sorrowful green eyes. Worry was reflected there in those expressive eyes, and Hiccup had to close his own, his dragon's upset affecting him so strongly.

Astrid continued in a quieter tone. "Most of the elders said you wouldn't make it. Half of them were telling Stoick to prepare a pyre about every other day. Every day was a fight, listening to your breath rattle in your chest, each one sounding like it was your last. It seemed like every time you were almost coherent another sickness would strike and take you away again. You'd be babbling about nonsense one day, trying to get up and walk, the next tossing and turning on the bed or so still we feared you dead." Her head was lowered, eyes on her hands she had clasped tightly in her lap. "It's just been these past two weeks that you've been sleeping quietly. The elders finally agreed that it was a good sign and you might make it."

Hiccup finally turned from his dragon, who had moved so close his head was in the boy's lap. "What happened?" He asked, grimacing as his voice cracked, his throat feeling raw. Toothless eyed him, whimpering at the harsh sound.

Astrid passed a cup of water to him, watching as he began to sip from it. "You passed out. That huge dragon left. I was struggling to get you on Prettyscale's back when Toothless knocked her away and came beside me. He laid down which allowed me to get you across his shoulders." She shuddered. "There was so much blood. Toothless actually let me on his back to operate the fin so we could get back quicker. Not that it was pretty flying. Between my inexperience," she grimaced, "and the one pedal being set up for your foot rather than a boot we were lucky not to crash when we landed. Even so it was a far faster flight than Prettyscale could've accomplished. You were so limp and still, I had to place a hand on your chest to make sure you were still breathing. It was several more days, almost a week, before your father arrived with most of the rest of the tribe. He's been worried sick about you, by the way. He's seen far stronger men carried off by wound sickness from far smaller wounds." She looked at him earnestly as Hiccup looked down at his lap full of dragon. Astrid sighed. "He was furious. Happy we repelled the invaders without too many injuries, but still furious. After questioning some of the older prisoners and finding out their plans he was ready to kill them all, then set sail to their island and finish the job."

Hiccup curled in on himself, feeling nausea rise. Hilde, Urda, all of the other women and children killed. If he hadn't been injured he could've talked to his father. If he hadn't been so severely sick his father might not have lost his temper so badly. "So they're all dead?" He asked dully, feeling empty inside.

Astrid's hands were clenched as she stared into the distance remembering those days. Stoick bellowing angrily one moment, the next sitting by his son's bedside trying to gently change the cold compress on Hiccup's forehead or change the wound dressing, his large hands somewhat unwieldy to the task. She took the watch when he had to take care of his duties to the tribe. Even then the man had practically hovered over his son every moment he could. Watching Hiccup toss and cry out in fever dreams. Trying to keep him cool when the fever spiked. Doing what the healers of the tribe had said to move his limbs and keep him clean. Toothless hovering like a dark guardian. Neither of them would talk about their fears, both too much a warrior to show such weakness. She shook herself. "What? No they're not."

Hiccup looked at her in surprise. He'd seen his father in a fury before. It was terrifying to watch even when it wasn't directed at him. He couldn't imagine him backing down from such a rage caused by the Dornarans actions.

"Wha? But you said he was angry and wanted to kill all of them." He began, now thoroughly confused, to go with the aches and pains.

Astrid nodded. "He was, but as he was about to storm down to where the prisoners were being kept a ship was spotted in the harbor. It was flying flags to show it came in peace and was allowed in. After some rope ladders were thrown down to it and the people onboard were brought up we found out they were from the other tribes. They brought letters from their Chiefs saying how they didn't trust either of our two tribes who had just fought and claimed that if either of us finished the other off they'd see it as a declaration of war on all of them." Astrid narrowed her eyes, smacking one fist into the palm of her other hand. "That was Dornar's plan! Not ours. We were just defending ourselves!" She scowled. "Anyway, by then it was too close to fall, and you know how short that season is. Stoick responded that he would keep the captives alive until a meeting of all the tribes could be held to explain what had gone on. Well, as late in the year as it was, they agreed to meet here in the spring. They just started arriving as the ice thaws."

"So, they're not all dead?" Hiccup asked, trying to get a grip on everything.

"Not for lack of trying. Our people weren't exactly thrilled with having a bunch of prisoners to keep alive through the winter, in addition to our own. I'm still amazed no one's cut off Dirk's head yet," she said her lip curling. "He's been the worst sort of obnoxious jerk every time he opens his mouth. When the twins were on guard duty they'd take turns pegging him with ice balls every time he used an insult on anybody. He'd insult, oh say another prisoner or a guard, so Ruffnut would hit him between the shoulders with one, then he'd start poring abuse on her, so Tuffnut would smack him from the other side. They'd keep it up until someone stopped them or they ran out of ice nearby. He spent most of the winter as black and blue as you were." She smiled at the picture. "We used the prisoners for labor. Had to get the causeway and docks rebuilt anyway, made sense to use the people we had to hand. We then made sure to have them walk on any section they built first, to test it and make sure they hadn't tried anything while working."

"And the meeting? What was decided then?" Hiccup looked at her anxiously.

She glared at him. "I swear, sometimes I'm amazed you're still alive. The gods must absolutely adore you. Dragons almost kill you and you go out and befriend them." She held a hand up to stifle his protests. "You get kidnapped, tricked, beaten, then finally stabbed and you're still worrying about them. Hiccup! Get a grip! _Whose side are you on_?" She shouted.

"Mine." He replied, a slight wry smile teasing his lips, before disappearing. "If we release the Dornarans then there will probably be a blood feud between our tribes for the rest of our lives, as well as our children and their children's lives. If we kill them, even with the agreement of the other tribes, those tribes will regard us with suspicion. They will watch us, possibly planning against us, even if we never do anything towards them, out of fear of what we _might_ do. One day, maybe in our lives, maybe our children's, we'll end up being attacked by them, while they'll believe they're destroying a possible threat. Do you want that?"

Astrid was still angry with him and looked away, crossing her arms. "Nothing's been decided yet. The last few tribe's Chiefs haven't arrived yet. They should get here within the next few days. Maybe even today. That's when everything will be decided."

Hiccup nodded, his hands still running along and over Toothless' head as he considered all that Astrid had told him. He had no doubt that the winter had been a tense, strained time.

"It's really spring?" He said shaking his head, still stunned at the idea. Months in that half aware state.

"As I said, just barely. The ice hasn't fully cleared yet, and it hasn't been more than a week past equinox. The first few Chiefs came from the nearer islands on sleds." She answered irritably.

He came to a decision and nodded to himself. He shifted, causing Toothless to lift his head to look at him, as he swung his legs over the side of his bed. He began to look around for his foot, lifting the covers to check and craning his neck to look into the corners of the room.

"Hiccup? What are you doing?" Astrid asked as she got up from her chair and came around to him.

"Looking for my foot." He replied as he carefully tried to look under the bed without falling from it.

"Your foot? Why… Hiccup, you just woke up!" She got down on the floor beside where he was on the bed. "What are you planning?"

He smiled at her. Apparently most of the aches and pains in his body had been from stiffness and the moving he was doing was causing them to fade. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but he'd had worse. "First I plan on getting up. I think I've spent enough time sleeping, don't you? Then, well, I've done stupid pretty well already, so now it's time for crazy."


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 24

Hiccup sent Astrid to see what was going on at the Great Hall as that would be where everybody would meet. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of leaving him since he'd just woken up, but the way Toothless was snarling at the boy if he tried to walk too far without putting some of his weight on the dragon or trying to move too fast made her think the dragon would stop him from doing anything too insane. Which worried her that she trusted the dragon to be more sensible than the human. She wasn't sure if Hiccup a brilliant plan or was just pulling something out of his ass. The scary thing was that with Hiccup it was usually both at once.

Hiccup meanwhile was trying without much success to get Toothless to let him out the door. Apparently he'd tried to escape too many times while hallucinating during a fever the past winter and now Toothless wanted him to stay safe inside. He tried to slink out the back door but the dragon simply leaped from rafter to rafter to set himself down in front of him. Wheedling the dragon with promises of fish simply had the dragon's ear flap twitch irritably. He finally mentioned flying to see the Night Fury's eyes narrow and his head to turn towards the door. Toothless gave a long low whine as he looked up, before turning back to Hiccup. The boy realized that although Astrid had mentioned flying back with him unconscious, she hadn't mentioned any other times of flight with the Night Fury. Odin knew the dragon probably only flew to get him back quicker then went back to his old ways of not letting Astrid on again.

"C'mon bud, I know you helped keep me safe while I was sick," Hiccup started cajolingly, "but I'm much better now. I'm fine. See?" He turned, somewhat awkwardly as he was still slightly stiff and his artificial foot wasn't very cooperative at the best of times. "No bruises, no blood, no fever. You've done your job. Now we can get in the air again. I'm sure you've missed it." He walked towards the dragon smiling at the way Toothless looked at him, head cocked as though waiting for Hiccup to try something stupid. He held a hand out to the Night Fury, who immediately ducked under his outstretched hand. Toothless looked at him, rumbling softly.

Hiccup sighed, exasperated with the over protectiveness. "I'm fine, I swear. We can go outside. It's actually a beautiful day out." He could see the sun shining around the edges of the door. Toothless gave a long, loud sigh looking up at Hiccup warily, before turning to the front door. The boy companionably slapped the dragon on the shoulder grinning at the dragon's agreement. He'd seen the harness neatly piled in the corner. He hobbled over to it, still quite a bit weak from convalescence. It took some doing to get everything on right as Hiccup had to rest at times, which generally had Toothless becoming fretful, his noises sounding worried. The dragon would look over at Hiccup's bed and whine. Finally after getting the harness ready and re-convincing Toothless that he was fine, really, no he didn't need another coat or scarf or other covering, and no he really didn't want to get back in bed, the two were ready and made their way out the door.

It was an almost pleasant spring day. The sun was shining brightly for once. The snow had melted to the point that you could see the ground in certain places that got a lot of sun, yet hadn't thawed enough to become a complete mire yet. Most of the deadly icicles had fallen off of the roofs, and there was an actual path worn down through the snow so it wasn't as hard to walk for Hiccup as it could've been.

There were more people than usual in the village, not a surprise given the upcoming meeting. Almost all of the villagers of Berk were out and about. Which made Hiccup's idea of a quick flight pretty much out of the question. The villagers seemed to see Toothless first, starting at the sight of the dragon and almost always saying, "Toothless? What are ye doin' out… Hiccup!" and then the boy would get surrounded by well-wishers. He got so many pats on the back for being back on his feet he was sure he had a bruise forming right between his shoulder blades. Others would ruffle his hair, which he hated, it made him feel like he was five years old. The dragons also seemed happy to see him. Fishlegs' Gronkle almost knocked him off of his feet when it butted him affectionately. Fishlegs immediately began to apologize as Toothless hissed at it. A whole flock of Terrible Terrors tried to rub against his legs, almost tripping him with every step.

"Hiccup!"

He recognized that voice. Dread filled him as he saw his father striding through the crowd. The man didn't even seem to notice as he knocked people and dragons out of his way to get to his son. Hiccup tried to stifle the flinch he wanted to do at the sight. He waited for the roar of "I told ye not to do that!" or "What in Odin's name were you thinking?" to come bellowing out. Instead his father came close and wrapped his arms around his son. Stoick seemed to hold him tightly but gently, which confused the still unsteady boy. It was as if the huge man wanted to cling to him, but was afraid his son would shatter if he gripped too tight.

When Stoick released him, he placed his hands on Hiccup's shoulders holding him at arms length looking him over. He seemed somewhat embarrassed by his impulsive actions. Hiccup was able to get a good look at his father at the same time. He was shocked at the sight of the worry in his dad's eyes. There were grey hairs at his temples that hadn't been there the last time he'd seen him. It suddenly struck him that it had been almost over a year since he'd seen his dad while conscious and coherent. Hiccup stammered trying to say something, as his father looked him up and down before shaking his head.

"You must've just gotten up. O'course it happens when Ah'm away." He chuckled. "And you, ye overgrown bat, tryin' ta get him into th' air right after he's left his sickbed? Eh?" Toothless growled at the man, showing his teeth, but his relaxed posture didn't show any threat. The two still generally greeted each other with a snap and a snarl. Stoick put an arm around his son, steering him back to the house. Which made Hiccup want to groan in annoyance. It had been hard enough to get Toothless to let him out the first time. Toothless immediately fell into step on Hiccup's other side, padding along easily.

"Toothless wasn't happy about letting me outside, I don't know if he'd even _let_ me fly today." Hiccup grumbled, as he walked beside his father. He heard his father laugh, sounding relieved.

"Ah well, at least one o' th' pair of ya has some sense. A man isn't up to leaping into battle right from th' sickbed. Can't see why flyin' would be any different, after all." Stoick replied. He ushered his son inside, the dragon following.

Hiccup turned to his father as soon as they were inside, talking quickly before the lecture he knew was coming started, "Dad, I want to apologize. I'm sorry, you were right. The other tribes just want the dragons for war. I'm so, so sorry I taught them. I didn't mean for things to get so out of control…" He knew he was breaking into babbling again, his fear of his father's reaction welling up inside of him.

Stoick held a hand up, cutting off Hiccup's verbal barrage of apologies and explanations. The man sighed and shook his head. "I have to apologize too son. If I hadn't gotten so set in my mind you wouldn't've seen th' need to teach them." He sighed again. "I knew the ways of training dragons wouldn't stay in our people for long, but the other tribes," he scowled, "the demands they were makin' were idiotic. Insisting you be sent to them until _they_ were satisfied they knew the training, demandin' we send them already trained dragons to them for their use as a ride." Here Hiccup snorted at the thought. Dragons couldn't be forced to carry anybody. "Or to chase off the wild ones still plaguing them. And th' more they wanted, the less I wanted you to go. At best, with the demands they were making you'd be gone fer three years, maybe more. And I wasn't having with that."

Hiccup was staring at Stoick, baffled. His father had been in negotiations to have him teach the others? But every time he'd brought it up they'd ended up with arguing matches that almost made the rafters shake.

"I was tryin' to look after ye." Stoick started, then stopped. "Seems to have worked as well as keepin' ye inside durin' a dragon raid did." Hiccup's mouth quirked into a slight smile at that.

"Dad, we have a chance now. All of the tribe leaders are here, they're seeing how calm the dragons are around us," Hiccup said excitedly. "Maybe I can…"

"No! Gods help me, can't you take it a bit easy right after ye climb from yer deathbed?" Stoick said wide-eyed. "Half the men think ye have some sort of magic with the beasts and have been saying loudly how unnatural our village is, and you are. Th' others might try to pull th' same thing Dornar did and try to force you to teach them. I don't want you anywhere near 'em." He shook his head. "There will be discussions, mebbe we'll come to an agreement, but I want you stayin' out o' it. And you, ye big lizard can make sure he stays here." And Stoick nodded to Toothless and left.

Hiccup stood in the middle of the room, gaping at where the man had just been. "Oh, now that's not fair." He snapped. He looked at the dragon who was resting comfortably in front of the door. "Come on Toothless, you're not going to listen to him over me, are you?" He asked smiling at the dragon. Toothless looked at him narrowly and huffed. Hiccup frowned at him, the dragon was still lounging there watching the boy carefully.

"Toothless, I need to do this. The other Chiefs will probably end up pushing my dad into doing something stupid. Or starting something stupid themselves. I need to try. All I want is peace between humans and dragons all throughout the archipelago. Please buddy, help me. Don't stop me." Hiccup pleaded.

The dragon's tail flicked back and forth as he looked at the human, then to the door. The dragon heaved himself up, coming over to where his boy stood, looking at the dragon with sad eyes. He bumped the human gently with his nose. Hiccup grinned at the sign of acceptance and went to the door.

Now that he had a place he wanted to be, the Great hall, and a person he wanted to avoid, his father, Hiccup was being far more careful about going out and about this time. He didn't want to be stopped every five feet by another person congratulating him on being alive either. As they left the second time, as it was still daylight, Hiccup made sure they kept to the shadows between buildings as they went down so he listen in on what was going on in the village proper before trying to sneak into the Hall. The houses blocked Toothless' bulk from view. A large group passed by where they hid, including Hiccup's father. The men were talking, all of their faces dark and serious. Hiccup could hear his father's rumbling tones mixed in their conversation, sounding as serious as the others. This group was followed by another group of the villagers from Berk.

Sneaking around to follow the men he heard Gobber's voice over the rest. "Well, thas' the last of 'em. We'll see what 'tis they come up with. Should've just killed the lot o' invaders, taken everybody on then." Hiccup was so focused on trying to hear and not be seen, he didn't pay attention to what was going on behind him. A hand came down on his shoulder. Hiccup managed to stifle a scream.

"Hiccup?" He heard from behind him. Astrid. Astrid had found them. His heart could stop pounding now, anytime. "Why are you creeping around? It's pretty hard to hide a dragon at night, let alone a black one during the day when there's still snow on the ground."

"Astrid! Oh thank gods I was afraid I'd been found. Have you heard anything?" He asked as he turned to face her.

She made a face. "Nothing good. The closer tribes we've been having trouble with have been spreading rumors that the reason we haven't helped them was because we were training Dornar and the two of us were planning on taking over the rest. They've been the loudest and believe that the fighting we had was due to our two tribes having a falling out. The rest seem unnerved by the dragons. They all claim the dragons have bewitched us or we've bewitched the dragons, they can't seem to agree on which." Toothless snorted at this point from where he was laying on the ground behind them, causing the two humans to smile at each other. "Yeah, pretty dumb I agree. None of them are in agreement with any other tribe other than that only two tribes knowing how to control dragons, their words not mine." She added at Hiccup's annoyed expression. "Is dangerous to the rest of them."

Hiccup gave a sigh, leaning against the building he and Toothless had been using as a hiding place. If it was a bunch of snapping, snarling dragons he'd know exactly how to approach the situation. Humans were so much harder to predict. Not to mention far less forgiving.

"Well, I have to try." He muttered, more to himself than out loud. He shook himself. "Let's head to the Hall."

* * *

A/N: Sorry I left my posting schedule I was holding myself to. The last chapter was using me for a kickball. I knew when I wanted to end it and how, just not the words to use to do so.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were mine I'd be working on a screenplay for a sequel, rather than this bit of self-indulgent fun.

Chapter 25

They went up to the Great Hall. The village was deserted now, everyone had hurried to the Hall packing it to capacity. The noise from within seemed to make the doors buzz as the three of them approached. There were a number of dragons lounging around the entrance, looking curiously at it. Dragons were normally allowed everywhere, including the Hall, but had been displaced due to the press of humans inside.

Hiccup paused at the door, cracking it open a bit. All of the people within were facing the center, where most of the voices were coming from. There was room for Astrid and him to sneak in, but there was no way the Night Fury would be able to go unnoticed in the crowded room. Hiccup told Toothless to stay, which would hopefully last at least a few moments. Maybe a minute given the way the dragon had flattened his earflaps and all of the ridges ringing his face in displeasure at being left outside. Toothless huffed, then butted Hiccup gently in the chest with his head in understanding. Hiccup gave him a quick scratch before slipping in the doors, followed quickly by Astrid. The doors were huge, but with the crowds no one noticed their movement. Hiccup kept to the back as he moved around the room, trying to get nearer to where the various Chiefs were gathered.

"And where is this dragon boy o' yours, Stoick?" He heard bellowed. "How d'ye know he's not simply a traitor?"

"My son is no traitor!" Stoick roared back, and the crowd parted slightly so Hiccup could see his father practically nose to nose with another man, both of them red faced and furious. The man he was yelling at was older, his once dark beard streaked with gray and most of the hair on top of his head gone, though that was hard to tell with the man's helmet on. He was only an inch or two shorter than Stoick, though he was actually wider at the shoulders. The man continued in an equally loud voice.

"Ye claim that, yet ye keep him hidden away from th' rest o' us. He caused a war between two tribes, killed a Chief and ye keep him locked away as though you know he's guilty o' something!" He finished at a yell.

There was a roar of protest from the assembled Berk villagers. Hiccup saw Spitelout with his son Snotlout, both angrily arguing with another Chief and his followers. Ruffnut and Tuffnut's parents were holding the two back as they were screaming threats and shaking their fists at other assembled tribes. Hiccup sighed as he leaned back against the wall, placing a hand over his eyes. This wasn't going to accomplish anything other than never ending war he thought with exasperation. He looked up and saw his father blustering, saw that all of the other teens were with their families, Astrid had reached her own parents having arrived late only because she was with him and Fishlegs was in the room as well. Suddenly anger pushed to the fore of his emotions. His father _had_ hidden him away. Not because he was guilty, oh no. It was because after all he'd done, after all he'd fought, after all he had _sacrificed_, his father still saw him as the small child who needed protecting. Needed someone stronger looking after him, shielding him from the nastiness adults dealt with. He was suddenly so furious he swore he saw red. Yes he had made mistakes, yes he had accidentally caused a war. But if he was as strong as Snotlout would his father have tried to keep him away from this? He didn't think so. If his father had actually shared the plans to have him teach the others he probably wouldn't have leaped so eagerly to try and teach his kidnappers to show his father he could. He clenched his fists by his side, glad Toothless wasn't beside him. As angry as _he_ was, the Night Fury would've been looking to maul _someone_.

"Hiccup is no traitor! He hates war, hates the killing!" He heard the higher pitches of Astrid and ended up sighing. The other tribes would hardly see his hatred of killing as anything worthy of respect.

There was loud laughter at her outburst, and now the word coward was being bandied about as well as traitor. His father was in a shouting match with three people as well, and it looked as though it would turn physical pretty soon. Astrid had found some other girl who had accompanied one of the leaders from another tribe and had her in a headlock. Snotlout was busy punching the crap out of another teen and absolute chaos was about two seconds from breaking out.

"_ENOUGH!_" Hiccup screamed. He would've preferred a bellow that rang out over the rabble, but his voice was still too high to be anything other than a shriek. It echoed off of the walls and ceiling, bringing a quiet in the following. In that quiet Hiccup heard the doors bang open and the replying screech of an angry dragon. The rows of people parted to reveal him to the Chiefs assembled at the table in the center of the Hall as Toothless leaped from pillar to pillar to reach him. The black dragon landed beside him, snarling at everybody surrounding the two of them. Hiccup placed an arm over the Night Fury, relieved for the support. He was starving and starting to feel weak from all of his running around. He hoped the sight they made was more of him holding back a snarling dragon with his hand, rather than him staggering and clinging to the dragon for stability. Going by the way even the Berk residents were backing away nervously, they must've looked impressive as they walked towards the gathered Chiefs.

As the two of them made their way through the now quieted brawlers, more of the visitors were pushing to the front to see him. Most were giving him incredulous looks, obviously not believing that such a short, scrawny boy could be the one called Dragon Master. And Hiccup could admit he was pretty scrawny at the moment. He'd lost weight he really hadn't had to lose during his long sickness, leaving him even more of a fishbone than usual.

He saw the gathered Dornarans, chained together, near the Chiefs as well. Most were looking a bit worse for wear after the winter. They were all thinner, a number had lost a bit of muscle as well, the Berklanders had kept them alive, not thriving. He saw Dirk, still alive the pain in the ass, as he tried to appear calm and imperious despite his thinness now and the chains. Dirk saw Hiccup as he and Toothless approached and turned and spat on the ground at the sight.

"That's the Dragon Master? That little stick?" Boomed a woman who was with the Chiefs. She was large and tall, standing straight backed and imposing with her arms crossed in front of her. Hiccup was pretty sure her forearm was wider than his chest at the moment. He assumed she was Bertha, the leader of an unusual tribe made only of women. They recruited young women from other tribes to increase their own. "I could break his back with my pinkies." She declared loudly, gesturing towards the oncoming boy. Hiccup could see the girl that Astrid had been fighting had gotten away from her and now peered at him from behind Bertha. She didn't seem impressed either.

The Night Fury under his hands tensed and snarled at the immense woman, ready to spring. Whether it was because she was the only one to speak so loudly in the quiet or because he assumed her gesture towards Hiccup was threatening didn't really matter. The dragon was about to leap when Hiccup looked down at him, tightening his grip on the harness. "Toothless, no." he admonished.

The gathered visiting tribes gave a slight gasp as the dragon went from a snarling, threatening beast to an affectionate creature rubbing gently against the boy while giving a slightly piteous whine, though he quickly switched back if anyone approached. The two were now near the table where everyone had gathered. Hiccup stood there as proudly as he could, hoping he wouldn't start shaking or have his stomach growl.

"I am no traitor." He said calmly, but loudly. "I simply wished to end a useless and wasteful war between humans and dragons. Yes, I was kidnapped by the Dornarans. I was innocent and foolish enough to think that I could teach them to coexist with the dragons and show my father that others could live in peace with them, without us then fearing those people." He smiled, wry but slightly dark. "I guess we can see how well that worked out. Now, as much as I want to end that war, I can't see myself wanting to teach anyone my methods given the last tribe I taught immediately tried to kill me and attack my tribe."

"An' who says we need to learn from you?" Boomed the older man who had been yelling at his father. "We now have another tribe we can ask, no need to negotiate with yours." He finished with a dark look at Stoick.

"Yes, and they listened so well they were defeated by less than half of my tribe." Hiccup retorted shortly. "By all means learn from them. Then we'll never have to fear you."

His curt reply set a loud muttering among the throng. He heard loud protests coming from the captive Dornarans, but refused to look at them again. If he did and saw the people he had trusted, had even liked a few of them and had been beginning to see them as friends while he taught them how to befriend dragons, he probably would've set Toothless on them as he lost the control of his tightly leashed fury.

"My tribe was trying to negotiate in good faith." He began, ignoring the muttering that was gaining in volume around him, as well as the dark looks he was getting from his own father. "Yet even when those talks were going on, another attacked us."

"And what would you, you impudent pup, have this council," the elder gave an expansive gesture to take in all of the Chiefs and trusted warriors they'd brought with them, "do with those attackers, while you are so arrogantly issuing orders to us?"

Hiccup finally looked over at the prisoners. They watched him warily. He could easily ask that they simply kill the remaining members. He pictured Dirk, laying dead on the ground and savored it for a moment. But as he looked he saw the men who had been eager to learn. The ones who had gotten the dragons to truly trust them. He heard Hilde's voice again and wondered how the women had fared through the winter. He couldn't order their deaths. He couldn't simply kill them. He sighed, no one would probably like his next words.

"Have them swear on all the gods names that they will neither attack us nor swear blood feud on us. Have them forfeit half of their treasure," he knew that with so few men they would need something for trade as there weren't enough men to risk on raids. Anything else was simply sentencing them to a slower death than an execution. "Any who refuse will be declared Outcast, not to be considered a Viking." He decided. He knew the lenience of the sentence would cause a stir, and it did. Arguments broke out among groups of people, though they at least stayed only verbal. Allowing prisoners free? The one who they had wronged the most was speaking for such things? Hiccup had to look away from his father's thunderous expression.

The elder narrowed his eyes as he looked Hiccup over. If he hadn't been feeling so weak he might've fidgeted under the stare. Toothless must've felt the way his legs were beginning to tremble as the dragon ducked under him. Hiccup grabbed at the harness, glad to have it to hold on to this time. The man then looked over at the other Chiefs who seemed rather puzzled at Hiccup's choice. Several looked rather disgusted at his decision, they would probably always consider him a weakling. Others seemed to regard him calculatingly, probably trying to figure out what he was planning.

"Since you seem to have an idea for everything, then what's your compromise for teaching everyone?" Another man asked, leaning forward his expression one of the calculating ones.

Hiccup wanted to tell them he refused completely. That he wouldn't teach anyone anything and just wanted to stay on his island. He sighed, that would never be acceptable and he knew it. He thought quickly, trying to come up with something that would be acceptable to all of the adults around him.

"Each tribe wishing to learn how to train dragons will send one person here until _I_ think they understand what I'm telling them." Hiccup replied, feeling a bit more confident as no one had screamed at him to get out, leave this to the adults yet, even though they weren't happy with his first proposal. Granted, that could be due to the black dragon beneath him who was still giving everyone the evil eye. "Hopefully they will return to their respective tribes by winter. Over the winter they will teach their people and the next spring I will make the rounds to check up on everybody." He glanced down at Toothless and smiled while patting the dragon's head. "We can certainly reach any island quickly if needed," he added, "that way everyone will hopefully learn at the same time. No fighting over who's first…" There were grumbles at that. Odin knew if there was any reason to fight out a pecking order Vikings wouldn't just find it, but gleefully begin to pound on each other to sort it out. "No one will have to worry about another becoming better than them, and no one should feel slighted." Hiccup finished. He was relived to see his father's furious expression had actually changed into contemplative as he rubbed his chin while regarding his errant son.

Conversations rose around him. While some still disagreed on how to deal with the whole Dornar situation, most seemed pleased at the idea he had proposed for training. Deciding who among their tribes could represent them gave a chance for fierce arguments and challenges within a tribe for their honor, and having it done all at once meant no tribe would be considered above any other. There were arguments still, but they were arguments that weren't rising to the level of screaming matches. Hiccup was surprised that they actually were considering his words.

He waited patiently for a decision, though he had to keep pinching himself to stay awake. Maybe his father and Astrid had something with the whole "taking it easy" thing. As many people as were gathered here there would be a final ruling here and now, and he didn't want to miss that. Vikings were not people to drag out a judgment, especially with a crowd of observers. His father was in deep conversation with the others. When all of them turned to look at the crowds Hiccup sat up interestedly.

"We have come to an agreement." His father stated in a loud blaring voice. "The captives will be allowed back to their island." There was a grumble of displeasure from the assembled Berklanders. "There they will be watched by members of all of the tribes, who will also act as a leading council until a Chief is selected by them. They will forfeit half of what is in their treasury to Berk for their attempted attack. If the captives do not accept this, then they will be killed and their island's property split among the tribes." Hiccup snorted, gee have watchdogs set on you or lose everything. Tough decision. Then he glanced at Dirk who seemed incensed at the idea. Well, any sane person would accept the deal, as raw as it was. "Any attempt at using their men or dragons to mount an attack will be seen as war on all of the tribes and will result in their execution."

"We also agree to follow the suggestion of Training by the Dragon Master." Hiccup could see his father wasn't happy that he had to say that. He probably wasn't happy that Hiccup had more or less browbeat the council into accepting it. If it had been _his_ idea he probably would've been thrilled. "Each tribe will send one representative, it is up to each tribe to decide who will come, to learn from him and to then teach their people. This is the verdict of the council." Stoick thundered.

Hiccup was relieved. He was glad he wouldn't have to leave and be among other tribes to teach. Even with agreements and so forth he wouldn't be able to rest if he was among another tribe without his own around him. He was also, not really happy, but at least relieved that the Dornar people were not to be killed out of hand. Granted if they were stupid then they would die, but Hiccup had at least made it so such a thing was on their own heads instead of his.

"So, it looks like you should brush up on your lessons, I see." He turned on the harness to see Astrid next to him. "Or are you going to go with the 'Gobber Method of Training' and just see who lives?"

He grinned at her "I don't quite think that's going to give us the result we're looking for here."

"No, probably not." She agreed. "At least this time you didn't lose any limbs when you decided to go off and do your thing."

"Yeah, well, I haven't met my students yet either." He replied as the two wended their way through the crowds to the entrance. He yawned. There was still going to be problems, this wasn't going to smooth everything over. The Dornar people had been humiliated and weren't going to forget that. He would probably be dealing with what the other tribes considered their best people, which meant the most stubborn, small minded, and hulking men they had, most likely. But right now that was in the future. Now he was free from a bit of his guilt.

Now he could find something to eat before he passed out and had Astrid hit him for worrying her again.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I knew I wanted to end it here, but the final words wouldn't come. It seriously kicked my butt around for a while.

Woot! Over 40,000 words for a final count!

Thanks to all of the people who've read and reviewed, I hope you enjoyed the whole thing. I have a one-shot rattling around in my head, but no guarantees when it'll finally get written/posted.


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